Week #2 – Media & Culture!

66 thoughts on “Week #2 – Media & Culture!”

1. I found the information presented in this video to be extremely reflective. When speaking to parents or elders in whichever form they may be in, the narrative is that we are addicted to our phones or social media but when in reality we are addicted to information. Maybe the consumption on constant information is an enjoyable distraction from what we really need to be focused on, or all that information intake is making us feel almost accomplished by being able to identify learning something new. But due to things like Tik Tok and reels and you tube shorts, our attention span gets shorter and shorter and we are constantly looking for something new and engaging. For example, I love love love audiobooks. But I love them more because when I am struggling to sit and focus for long periods of time, I can still consume in information in the text while also doing something else like being on the bus to look out the window, to cooking, and cleaning. And that scenario is dopamine at its finest.

   This talk is from 2015 but is so accurate.
   Compulsive behavior, I pull my phone to also fill a awk moment.
   Even when I intentionally do not browse on my phone first thing in the morning, I find my mornings to be so much more productive.
   Considering that I do know I struggle with retaining information and I have had a recent brain injury, and as I do take herbal medicines like ginkoba and ashwaganda for brain function to name a few. My day to day practices of switching between tasks and the concept of multitasking isn’t real or helpful.

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2. I think that the video was very insightful and interesting. There were many points that I can relate to as well as agree with, not too sure about smashing phones, LOL. I believe everything should be done in moderation and it’s kind of weird that social media addiction is not something we speak about more often. Yet ever so often you will see memes on the internet, comparing how each generation was raised until a new form of technology came about. I think that once phones were introduced, society just became comfortable with “adapting to technology” to stay in the loop so to speak. I think that Carr’s view is very sound, and I agree with his stance on the information that we gather on the internet can corrode our abilities to even engage in deep conversations or being able to engage with each other using contemplative and convoluted arguments. I would from time to time spend some time away from social media despite having a smartphone and I realized that I love interacting with others in person and even participating in enlightening conversations because there just seems to be an overload when you are constantly on social media. There is the constant need to post, scroll, comment, to do all kinds of things because of the whole “dopamine” feeling. I believe that everyone should at least practice the habit of taking a break from social media. Nowadays, we are seeing more tragedies circulating and I can just imagine the impact that this might have on the mental health of most people

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   1. Thank you, great points here! Spot on!

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3. The thing is that the internet has advanced and people use it in their daily lives. People use their phones for all sorts of things such as social media and information. I realize that technology gives a lot of benefits while rest impacts our lives. Some people use it to seek information while some just use it for other habits. As someone who is a young adult can say that everyone uses technology in their way.
   The video by Mr. Nicolas Carr “What the Internet is doing to our brains” gave an overall view of how the digital world is and how much people are really getting impacted by that. I can say that it does impact my life judging how much I use it throughout my day. Now it questions me how much this will continue. I do think everyone should have a limit on what to stop using technology. Yes, it’s known to be one of the greatest things in humankind, but it controls our lives. Millions of people get impacted by social media and take people’s comments personally which affects them mentally.

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4. The thing is that the internet has advanced and people use it in their daily lives. People use their phones for all sorts of things such as social media and information. I realize that technology gives a lot of benefits while rest impacts our lives. Some people use it to seek information while some just use it for other habits. As someone who is a young adult can say that everyone uses technology in their way.
   The video by Mr. Nicolas Carr “What the Internet is doing to our brains” gave an overall view of how the digital world is and how much people are really getting impacted by that. I can say that it does impact my life judging how much I use it throughout my day. Now it questions me how much this will continue. I do think everyone should have a limit on what to stop using technology. Yes, it’s known to be one of the greatest things in humankind, but it controls our lives. Millions of people get impacted by social media and take people’s comments personally which affects them mentally.

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5. The video itself is very informative and interesting. One really doesn’t think about how much time we spend on our phones, how long we look at apps, especially email apps or messaging apps and social media apps. An interesting study he mentioned was how we averagely spend 10 seconds for every website page we open and how many times we look at different apps unconsciously. Carr’s view is that we as humans love to learn more, we want to know more naturally speaking, so the internet allows that, all the information you want in the tip of your fingers. But with all that, we still don’t remember everything we see, we collect many types of information, but we then jump to newer information again and again and we tend to forget a lot of information because as Carr mentioned in a study, the more information you observe the less important a lot of it will be which will make you forget a lot of information you collected. I agree with Carr’s point of view, we don’t focus enough on one information without jumping to a new one right away, a lot of the fault is that we tend to want more information quickly, so we switch pages and pages on web browsers never really observing all the information, we don’t practice memorization as much at cause of this, we learn less to an extent because of this. Too much information I feel it’s not bad, but how we consume the multitude of information can show whether we actually learned something or not, the more time we spend trying to feed new information after another quickly, the more we will not learn or truly remember it all because the lack of importance we give to a type of information.

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   1. Yes, indeed. The key word is “unconscious” – amazing how we can train ourselves to remain unconscious, for example, I immediately turned off the “screen time” notifications on my phone… knowing it would likely help, but instead I turned it off to “not deal with it” – I very much aware of this, but need to work on it more, and take steps to track the progress 🙂

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   2. Hello, some people don’t have patience when it comes to information. We need to get more and more without taking our time with one that’s in our faces.

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6. I think the video for most part is accurate and informative based on the speaker point of view. I do actively seek information especially when it comes to my health or somebody else’s health. Then when I find the information I’m looking for it makes me paranoid because I self diagnose myself or some else as if I’m a medical doctor.

   I agree with Carr’s point of views especially when he states having more information then other’s makes us more socially attractive and raises our social status. I couldn’t agree more with that statement. For instance from my point of view I believe some people attend college even when they might know college might not be for them but they want to feel socially accepted in society. I absolutely agree with the speaker point of view. The statement that stood out to me the most is when he stated over consumption of information which leads to compulsive kind of behavior. I couldn’t agree more because I’m guilty of this.

   I do believe this over saturation of information has made some people loose themselves or don’t even know themselves anymore and I would more directed towards people who are overly indulge in social media. I never had a cellphone growing up or in high school and I survived but now I can’t function without my phone. I realized when the other day my phone broke and I had to wait a couple days before I got a new phone and I felt I was going to loose my mind. Advances in technology and social media is beneficial in a sense but in my opinion it has turn society into zombies like and anti social. People don’t even know how to look people in the eye anymore or they feel uncomfortable because they become more comfortable being to themselves with there technology.

   As I’m typing this response I’m checking my phone. I was unconsciously checking it at first until I remembered to focus back on the response. Nicholas Carr is right that society is good at adapting but I question are we really adapting or are we becoming more distracted and developing shorter attention spans. Now I see why some people complain about not being able to remember some things. As Nicholas stated when were over loaded with information we can’t retain the information for very long.

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   1. So well said, thank you! Over saturation is a perfect term, and Ill add to that over-stimulated.. the combination is a lot to walk around with day in and day out. What is the cumulative total of this I often ponder, for example, 20 years of active daily media consumption via smart phones.. yikes!

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   2. I also agree with Carr’s point that it brings more social, but at the same time, I do believe that social media does make people more isolated from the real world.

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7. In my opinion, I think the video, “What the Internet is doing to our brains” by Nicholas Carr was very informative and interesting. One of the amazing inventions that provide people with limitless knowledge and amusement is the Internet. It used to take days, perhaps even months, for a letter to arrive at its destination whether you sent one or had one delivered to you. In the present day, you may use the Internet to send a letter or essential documents to anybody around the globe via e-mail. Additionally, it will frequently arrive at the desired location in under a minute. However, depending on this internet and modern device affect our lives. Despite all of its advantages, technology may really hurt us if used carelessly since it makes us become overly dependent on it. Since we have allowed technology to permeate so many aspects of our life, I genuinely believe that we have become “slaves” to it. I thoroughly agree with Carr on this point. Through the use of technology, we were able to connect with people who lived far away from us in a variety of ways, including by phone, email, and text message. But the basic principles of healthy communication have been broken down. As Nicholas Carr pointed out, we should all limit our use of technology and give our brains a rest.

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   1. Yes yes, the word “limit” is hard when additions and behaviors are already very set, and resistant to changes.. its hard, but there has to be a harmony that can be reached between humans and their tech, I dont think that we can “reverse it” but we can create new habits and ways of doing / thinking about things…

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   2. Yes I agree we will be at a disadvantage if we become overly dependent on technology and that is were I think society is heading towards already unfortunately.

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   3. Good points, and as discussed above, the “how” to manage and handle the tech is the question, since we are already kind of hooked..

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8. the video was precise and clear in explaining this whole new environment that “we created”, what I thought about in the video/lecture is the part where he states “we created this environment”. How did we create this environment? Was it the human ego’s urge to know everything? I understood from his point that we get content when we get new information from the internet and it seems like we know everything just from googling. But what I want to know, is that now that people are addicted to their phones like this whole other world of knowledge, communications abroad to speak with families, to get to know the world with the news, it’s easy to post false information and people would easily believe it. Technology is important indeed to seek jobs, to speak to people abroad and our families, to deliver news and entertainment. It affects our brains when we don’t know where to look. For instance, it’s easy to manipulate people throughout the media with dramatic, false information. We have to know what is false and what is not.

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   1. I agree that info can be easily spread now thanks to tech. Even worse now that people can spread false things because it is easy to trick people. Like you said to truly limit tech we first have to know what is real and what is false if not than every little thing will impact a person in a negative way.

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9. The video was precise, this is how life is today. We depend solely on technology for everything we do, some might say we can not live without it. Every day something new is being developed and programmed. Carr believes we are constantly on our devices which affects our ability to have meaningful conversations and connections. Humans have adapted to the internet and he thinks it affects our brains. I somewhat agree I am always on my phone, but I believe we can still have meaningful conversations through technology. This might not be the case for everyone but it is possible. Today we view the world through the internet, I agree with the effect it has on society today, the internet cords have us in a chokehold. I use the internet as my primary form of communication because most of my friends and family live overseas, and I seem to connect with them better over the phone than with people around me. I felt especially when he said that we check our phones and laptops before we do anything. This is true, the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning and before I go to bed is check my phone. That is something I am currently trying to self-improve.

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   1. Well said! And it is so true about keeping in touch with loved ones and family, especially if they live overseas or in another state, the tech helps us feels connected and that is such a benefit of our time in history!

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10. In this week’s video I found Nicholas Carr’s lecture about what the internet is doing to our brains very interesting. I always assumed that too much of a focus on a technologically advanced world would be both bitter and sweet. He says that we have an almost primitive need for information and the unlimited access we have through the internet caters to that impulsiveness. These internet companies love this aspect because it lines their pockets, but with this flood of information how much are we actually retaining and valuing things in our mind?
    I would somewhat agree with Carr’s thinking that the more we indulge in this constant influx of info, the less we value our own cognition & higher forms of thinking. Why learn when you can just google? I try to limit myself from being online sometimes but it is difficult, it’s become so integrated in our daily lives that we fail to notice when it’s becoming much.

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    1. Well dais, I like this quote: “but with this flood of information how much are we actually retaining and valuing things in our mind?” Its a great point, if we cant retain more than 80% of this constant flood of info, what does that evolve into? 100% desensitization…Yikes, scary to contemplate but here we are! We need to reclaim our attention!

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11. In my opinion, I think the video, “What the Internet is doing to our brains” by Nicholas Carr was very informative and interesting. I agree with Carr’s point of view, because the internet has become a big distraction in today’s society. Moreover, the internet is available almost everywhere thanks to Wi-Fi connections and the use of data. Wherever we may find ourselves, we see people using their laptops or phones on the train, coffee shops, and even in the video I noticed some people took notes on their phones rather than using a book. We ourselves also happen to do the same. I, for instance, would make the decision to invite my friends or family to go out, have fun, and eat. And instead of enjoying the fun moment with them, and sharing conversations together, all I can think about or all that comes to mind is picking up my phone and start taking pictures of my food, as well as the backgrounds just to update it on social media such as Instagram or Snapchat. Also, when doing an important task, I will literally pick up my phone more than once and check updates on the media as well. In other words, searching the web for something interesting. Internet technology is definitely having an effect on the human brain. The brain has become so used to that kind of behavior to the fact that individuals have lost interest in interacting or connecting with other people face to face. And what is also sad is that phone calls only take place in the case of an emergency. It has become hard to pick up the phone just to check up on another person. And even it has become acceptable to send serious information or news over a text. Society is losing the ability to have an in-person interaction due to the ease of communication that the internet has created.

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    1. Excellent, thank you for sharing! I too take picts of my food, especially if I made it myself! Imagine what communication between people will evolve into? I have feeling we will be seeing a lot of changes both for the better and the worse, but either way, forward we will go with the tech. Thank you!

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12. Week 2
    Media and culture

    The overall way our lives are set up to start to function from the start of the day with the digital alarm clock wakes us up and gives us news of the day, and when we get to work the businesses, all running on automation. From the pot of coffee in the morning down to the automation taking voice mail and answering phone throughout the day down to the cars we drive daily.

    Understanding the video by Mr. Nicolas Carr “What the Internet is doing to our brains” did indeed allow me to be questioning how much all the digital devices that running my very existence and how much will this affect me in the long run.

    I do believe taking a step back from technology for a few hours during the day could change your life, this disconnect from the internet allowed our brains to recharge or reset, and this could be due to age, so as I have matured, I have noticed I don’t use the internet as much as when I was a bit younger and more into social media stories and events.

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    1. Well said! And it’s a great idea, to consciously “take off” from the tech for a few hours, perhaps in the middle of the day.. for 30 straight days, and see what happens? Hmmm, Ill bet a lot of new awareness floods in, Im going to try it!

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    2. Yes, taking a few moments off the media is a good idea, because, with so much chaos that the news shows to the world, they want to create fear to get more views. I definitely have matured as well throughout my internet usage and Instagram posts. I used to post all the time when I first got Instagram or Snapchat or Facebook. But I realize you don’t have to show the world every moment in your life, sometimes I forget that I have a phone and record when I am having a good time.

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    3. I had a different experience when I was younger I was an avid tech user. I had a phone since fourth grade and I have had one ever since. I think that is why I have such a hard time limiting my tech usage. But also because I take many classes that require using a macbook or when I do homework. To truly limit tech schools also need to lessen the use of tech so we can than adapt.

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13. Carr’s video was an interesting video to talk about technology use. I enjoyed watching the video as it brought a better perspective about how tech companies and technology have impacted us. As I am growing up in this new technological age, I’ve seen this impact on me. Recently I went on vacation and my phone broke towards the end of it and I’ve realized how much I relied on it. But it also really let me experience my vacation more. I enjoyed it more and have more memories and being able to take in the vacation was relaxing and not constantly checking my phone all the time. Carr’s perspective is insightful as we are losing a piece of our mind and consciousness to these new technologies. It’s unfortunate as that’s the direction we’re moving towards. I honestly feel like I have been impacted by this as with the pandemic. Many times while studying I constantly search up something from my notes as I feel like I have doubt in my notes and I may have interpreted wrong when I was actually right. Our reliance on technology has widened and will only continue. I honestly agree with Carr and think that we have let technology become a part of daily lives so much and it’s kind of like we’re “slaves” to it.

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    1. Excellent! Ahhh, all it takes is broken device to show us how much we are reliant on it! I empathize, and can relate, I like the personal story connection here!

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15. I think that the presentation by Nicholas Carr has an interesting perspective on how technology has affected the human mind and it drives away our attention span to deep thinking and complex ideas and engagements. Nicholas Carr has a point that everything is easily accessible to the everyday person and people stay glued on their devices and not willing to detach from their phones and other devices that they might have. Nicholas Carr also brought up another good point that many tech companies make a lot of money off of people when they click on applications, and these companies see what we like and what we don’t like. I agree to an extent on what Nicholas Carr has to say. I agree with the fact that sometimes people detach from their devices and see what the outside is like. Social media and technology can get extremely toxic and cloud a person’s mind. I also agree that it makes us inattentive and unfocused. I will also say that it depends on the way we use our devices and as long as we not let it consume us and our daily lives, then we should be okay and still be able to think our deepest and profound thoughts.

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    1. Indeed, indeed! I believe there is deeper context to Carr’s talk also, the “how” and “where” we loose the ability to focus plays a role. Perhaps we loose our focus most in places and spaces we really don’t want to be? Perhaps the devices are triggering things with in us that play a role in those moments. Im fascinated with psychology and am digging into it a bit more now as a result of this talk.

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    2. How do you think we should use our devices in a way that elicits deep and profound thinking ?

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       1. Great Question for discussion during class!

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    3. Hi Ray, you are absolutely right, what Nicholas Carr says in the video “What the Internet is doing to our brains” is very interesting. I like how you stated that he emphasized on how technology has affected the human brain. And that it makes us inattentive as well. I agree, because the use of social media and mobile devices brings about issues or problems, such as being unable to concentrate on important tasks. And also spending too much time on our phones or laptops might strain the eye.

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16. I found Carr’s ted talk video to be super interesting. To be a part of a generation of new change feels rewarding but at the same time becomes very questionable if it is rewarding. I find the use of the internet to be useful in many ways. It is the way we can communicate with others from thousands of miles away. We are able to look and retrieve new information in a matter of seconds. It has been a game changer in education purposes to even work use. All those good things being said, I have always questioned if it has a good effect on us humans long term. Carr mentioned his talk about how we humans adapt and that’s one thing I really never put together. I find it so amazing how we humans adapt to our environment so easily. That being said, as Carr mentioned, it also changes how we live our lives now and how our brian functions. I have always realized that the older generations seem to remember a lot more and even at times more motivated at a younger age than young adults during this time in age. Even doing this assignment I have literally lost my focus and checked my phone about 20 times without even realizing it and I feel like many other people can relate to that. Basically all the points he made made me open my eyes even more about the internet and even answered some questions i had in the past that i always have wondered.

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    1. Well said! Amazing how awareness activates deeper awareness of our own behaviors, I too checked my device over 5 times while reading through comments, and had to shift back and forth between focus and falling out of focus. Is this reversible?? 🙂

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    2. I feel like we’ll never fully understand the long-term consequences of the internet until half a century or even an entire century. It’s a relatively new technology so we can’t really see how we’ve fully adapted to it, unlike reading and writing so we can only use our imaginations.

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       1. Thats a great way to put it! I agree, it will take many many many years to sort this all out!

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       2. Hello Ethan! I agree with your response, we’ve limited how much we do outside of the internet now that we don’t necessarily think of the consequences of the amount of time we spend on the internet anymore, we can even o to say every generation that follows will just work around the internet, will get their knowledge from the web rather than really enjoying getting the information for books. Yes the internet is faster, but we truly never process everything we see because how much information we tend to see all at once online compared to reading a book for information.

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    3. I know that I have been affected because my attention span is so short. In terms of access to information, it definitely been a game changer. I’m grateful for all the information available at our finger tips but we have to ask the question at what cost? Having these devices to me is a double edge sword. I guess we just have to make personal decisions about how we want to utilize them and go from there.

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    4. Hi Deborah, I agree with your viewpoint. It’s incredible how quickly humans can change their environments. As you mention the elder generations appear to have a much better memory. My father can remember all of our family member’s phone numbers. On the other hand, I barely can remember his phone number.

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17. A conversation about cell phones is needed to have. In the video, Carr brings up some points that I believe are worth having debates about. A question that I find to be difficult though is how do you tell someone what to do with a device that’s technically their property and at this point do the majority of people even care? Interestingly enough one of the points he brought up was how people have created a digital environment in which we can “live”. I have conversations with friends about the same topic and noticed many people use their phones as a comfort mechanism through which people deal with the world. Another good point I thought was important to bring up was the ability of us to naturally adapt to our environment but how cell phones have been a negative thing that we’ve had to adapt to. From becoming more desensitized to having less attention span, we should reconsider how much we use these devices. One thing is for certain, it’s going to be a difficult task trying to get people to stop something they’re so used to doing. I know people who do everything with their phones. I think the only way for some people to get off the devices is to hide the chargers. With the new generation who have grown up with cell phones in their hands, it is going to be nearly impossible to get them off. I don’t have the answers, hopefully, someone out there does.

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    1. Great points, for sure, an important word that you mentioned is “desensitized”… and how this effects us, if we can stay aware that we are under the spell of the devices! 🙂 Something has to give for sure.

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    2. I agree with your viewpoint and that you can’t tell someone exactly what to do with their device but I feel like what he is trying to say is that he is trying to warn anyone and everyone of the dangerous of technology and how it negatively effect you in that way. Overall I feel like he’s trying to warn people about it.

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    3. I have had conversations about technology but I prefer to be on the side of technology. I understand that there are cons but I feel in the future there will be ways to undo the harms tech can enact. I agree people would rather lose a hand than ever give up their own phones. I feel to truly stop using tech is that there needs to be a serious threat but even than most would rather take the risk.

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       1. Indeed, there will always be pros and cons for us to deal with, awareness is the key, and discussion around how to apply the awareness consistently. Greed on the other hand is also an awareness, sadly in the hands of all the wrong people, undoing this will be a big challenge..

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18. Watching the video allowed me to take ownership of how much technology had control of my life, and when his point demonstrated, that we all need to limit the use of devices and allow our brains to refresh and reset.

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    1. I agree, for sure! I watched the video several times to help me process it.

       Please double check the needed word count on the comments / responses to complete the assignment (150 – 300 words is needed) Thank you!

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    2. I agree I feel technology has a huge grip on my life. It helps me be entertained and helps me learn. I will agree that there needs to be time limits I don’t think I will enact a time limit because it is very helpful. I do try to use less but I never stick to it because I need it for work and school.

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19. When I was watching the video I kept thinking how much a phone helps me through out my day. I use it for learning about a new topic or when I am bored I use it to watch something. A phone is so crucial because we need it to be able to see what is happening all around us. But, it also made me realize that all the knowledge a phone provides cause the brain to remove older information. I always thought that the brain could hold so much but it’s just like a phone the more knowledge or experience we gain we in turn have to give up something to make space.

    I thought Carr’s view is valid because focusing too much on one thing can be bad. His comparison of our brains to the machines we use is something I never really thought of until he mentioned it. Just like a computer or phone we need rest when too much info is provided. But, I feel that losing some past information is not as bad as it seems because the world always keeps evolving. What worked years ago might not even work now. The brain has to evolve with the changing times and the use of phones is important with all the help it provides to each person. Even though we may lose something with one quick online search we can find it again.

    I will say when he mentioned that humans are becoming slaves to the technology we use. I checked my screen time on my computer and saw that my average daily use is around 5 to 6 hours in one day. Which I thought was crazy but then realized that this technology is necessary for homework, entertainment and for work. The only time that my screen time is low is when I am working. I get a break but even when I’m working I am still using technology to help people. I can never escape it and if I am honest the negatives of technology do not matter when it is able to help people. But, I will say that moderation is key as to avoid the need to always use technology because as he said almost everyone is becoming addicted to their phones.

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    1. Great work! I feel the same sentiments as well, in so many regards the technology helps us, and allows us to help others.. but there is a cost on our physiology and psychology.. perhaps Carr is also playing devils advocate a bit to help us become a bit more mindful in our daily technology practices? More than anything else, time is and will always be our best metric of contrast 🙂

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       1. I agree only time will tell how good or bad technology will harm us in the future. Here is hoping we figure how to overcome the negatives that might happen to avid tech users.

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          1. Yes!

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    2. agree I’m gonna set my screen time and sleep time, just to monitor usage. but I really want to know how much I’m not using my brain.

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       1. I agree checking those stats will allow us to see if we truly are addicted to our screens. I checked mine it is not great but could be worse.

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20. I thought the video was quite interesting because it made me realize another reason why our brains are very similar to the technology we use. The Brain is very much like a computer and the fact that we can’t process massive chunks of information makes a lot of sense to me. It’s probably the reason why the concept of immortality is so daunting. Humans can’t have hundreds and thousands of years of conscious memory. So even if a human could live for a very long time what makes us think our brains would be able to process life like that? I think it may also be why our society is currently the way it is. There is so much information out there that we have practically designed a way to get the information we want when we want. Algorithms have been designed to determine what we like based on what we search for and interact with, which leads to sites like Google, Youtube, and Facebook, to reaffirm our beliefs and perspective on the world. By making a large amount of information easier to access, the search engines we depend on to browse the internet inadvertently led us to be more closed off, tribalistic, and isolated. Machines are a reflection of humans, what their problems are, what their interests are, and their outlook, and perhaps the internet and the tools we use to connect to others and surf the internet challenge our quest for knowledge and enlightenment.

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    1. Excellent! The brain is indeed so much like a computer, super malleable and also limited to such concepts, like immortality (great point) – I like the word “enlightenment” used here and definitely think we flirt with that term (consciously or unconsciously) – forward we go either way, but something is certainly happening behaviorally as we evolve with the internet and the devices that help facilitate it!

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    2. Hi Ethan, wow! I really liked your response. I like how you incorporated, “the Brain is very much like a computer, and the fact that we can’t process massive chunks of information makes a lot of sense to me. It’s probably the reason why the concept of immortality is so daunting. Humans can’t have hundreds and thousands of years of conscious memory.” As humans, we can hold a lot of information but as time goes we tend to lose and forget some of that information. Much like a technological device, as time goes on they also age, functioning less or even losing information. I think technology is a great advantage for example textbooks, notebooks, posters, etc. are all items we don’t really see students carrying around anymore, why? Because this is all information available on the web. Also, technology is also a great way of communication and staying updated. But these advantages of technology can impact the body, and it is possible for them to cause psychological and physical complications, such as headaches, blurry vision, and difficulties concentrating. Great response!

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    3. That is an interesting view on how if we were to live forever we would eventually forget everything. Just like a computer has a certain amount of gigabytes for memory. One day it will become full and what will happen then? Do we start over or continue as a fractured person of who we once were? Cookies really make it hard to find new things because once you click accept it only narrows similar items.

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       1. Well said here!

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21. There is no doubt that Carr’s point of view in the video illustrates the current state of our society at the moment. I agree with many of the factual points Carr made in this Ted-Talk. Technology brings with it many benefits, such as being able to stay connected to current events and staying in touch with family, but it also brings with it some procrastination and interruptions to the daily lives of many people and the way they think. It has been proven that the usage of our devices reduces our ability to pay attention to topics and ideas that are less interesting. According to Carr, I agree with the claim that, “the amount of interrelated information available on the web can be challenging in terms of attention spans and making contemporary minds more distracted, as a result of which these minds become less capable of deeply engaging with complex ideas and arguments and having the ability to think critically.” I completely agree with his point of view. Carr explained, “technology created an environment of unlimited information”, this stuck with me because in many ways he’s absolutely correct.

    For example, textbooks, notebooks, posters, etc. are all items we don’t really see students carrying around anymore, why? Because this is all information available on the web. In the society we live in today, the web has answers to all the questions we might have. The trade-off, however, as Carr pointed out, is that all of these advantages are accompanied by an even greater disadvantage, namely the rise of social media and mobile devices. As a result, it is possible many psychological and physical effects can be caused by the use of these devices, such as headaches, blurred vision, and difficulty concentrating. There is also a possibility that they could contribute to the development of more serious health conditions, like depression or social anxiety. Our generation and generations to come are most likely to be affected more by the overuse of technology. The usage of technology is important to our daily lives but brings about a lot of real-life dilemmas.

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    1. Great work here! Excellent points, I agree, I guess the looming question becomes, how do we reverse this… and can we? 🙂

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    2. I agree having technology is a risk but the reward it worth it. Yes it does damage the brain but it helps with homework and keeps us entertained. You cant always have the reward without taking a risk. If it does impact us harsh here is hoping that our future generations find a solution. If the great minds can make a phone, computer or tablet than we might be able to help lessen its impact.

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    3. I completely agree with you that tech is important but yet brings many dilemmas in our lives. I completely forgot to even mention about how it affects our health so i really like that you added that because its a really good point. My question to you is that do you wish you were born in past generation or are you content with being in this new generation of change basically?

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    4. Hi Sarah, Definitely, I agree! There are numerous advantages, such as being able to keep up with current affairs and staying in touch with family. There is no doubting that technology has made it simple for us to communicate instantly with our friends. However, many of us have also lost the ability to communicate with people in person without the use of technology.

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