Short paper
Mengxin Lu
10/15/2014
Short paper 2
Although people are equipped with the most sophisticated communication media and it seems like millions of people are around us, people still feel lonelier today than they ever have before. The question is raised, to what extent does communication media generates distrust therefore makes people feel lonely?
The essay “The Flight from Conversation” written by Sherry Turkle gives some cues to interpret this question. On one hand, Turkle mentions the thing people value the most is what they are interested in (Sherry Turkle, 334). She believes people are isolated from others to avoid outside disturbances (Sherry Turkle, 335). This “Bubble world” generates a sense of distance from others, which pushes us all further apart. Alarmingly People can feel lonely even when they surround themselves with the company of others. On the other hand, Technology makes interactions more shallow and artificial. Turkle implies using technology people can edit the information they show to the others (Sherry Turkle, 335) enabling their control of the progress of the relationships, to the added comfort. This protection barrier to some extent causes the distrust between people and make us feel lonely.
To gain a deeper understanding of the two aspects, the reason people try to take control over the progress of relationships is they fear to being hurt by feeling of betrayal, vulnerability, and rejection. Turkle cites the biggest problem as people’s fragile, insecure selves. She makes assumption the less people present themselves to others, the less capacity people have for empathy and compassion, and people’s ability to fulfill another person’s needs is limited. Therefore, the key word here is distrust, perpetuated by controlled images. Besides, without real conversation, people cannot really sense the emotion within the conversation. And Technology allows emotions and body languages to be hidden, inhibiting emotional capacity and understanding.
10/15/2014
Short paper 2
Although people are equipped with the most sophisticated communication media and it seems like millions of people are around us, people still feel lonelier today than they ever have before. The question is raised, to what extent does communication media generates distrust therefore makes people feel lonely?
The essay “The Flight from Conversation” written by Sherry Turkle gives some cues to interpret this question. On one hand, Turkle mentions the thing people value the most is what they are interested in (Sherry Turkle, 334). She believes people are isolated from others to avoid outside disturbances (Sherry Turkle, 335). This “Bubble world” generates a sense of distance from others, which pushes us all further apart. Alarmingly People can feel lonely even when they surround themselves with the company of others. On the other hand, Technology makes interactions more shallow and artificial. Turkle implies using technology people can edit the information they show to the others (Sherry Turkle, 335) enabling their control of the progress of the relationships, to the added comfort. This protection barrier to some extent causes the distrust between people and make us feel lonely.
To gain a deeper understanding of the two aspects, the reason people try to take control over the progress of relationships is they fear to being hurt by feeling of betrayal, vulnerability, and rejection. Turkle cites the biggest problem as people’s fragile, insecure selves. She makes assumption the less people present themselves to others, the less capacity people have for empathy and compassion, and people’s ability to fulfill another person’s needs is limited. Therefore, the key word here is distrust, perpetuated by controlled images. Besides, without real conversation, people cannot really sense the emotion within the conversation. And Technology allows emotions and body languages to be hidden, inhibiting emotional capacity and understanding.