The Simple Life

It is interesting to me, how we have built, revised, and continue to work on new technologies every single say.  We do this to make our lives easier, so that we can be lazy and efficient at the same time.  Also, technology is supposed to save us stress by making everything simpler.  However, I must debate with this fact when I am ready to throw my laptop across the room after it has shut down and not saved my five page paper.  These things happen to everyone on a daily basis.  Technology crisis' are becoming all too common, and they can be some of the most stressful experiences ever.

The quote from The Shallows that stuck out to me made me jealous of those who lived way back in the 'dinosaur ages' as we sometimes jokingly call it, when there was no technology.  When life was "dominated by agrarian rhythms, free of haste, careless of exactitude, unconcerned by productivity".  This seems like a much more relaxing and stress-free life compared to the world we live in today.  However, we can't help that we live in this ear of our world.  Although things are so exciting, with new shiny gadgets appearing every week, sometimes we need to just take a break and live the simple life.  Leave our cell phones at home when we go out, or turn them off at the dinner table.  Instead of watching movies or texting people, go outside with your friends and engage with each other.  Instead of tweeting or updating statuses about the activities you are doing, put down your phone and pay attention to your surroundings to get the full experience.  Just try to live the simple life for one weekend, and I bet that you will feel much better getting on Monday compared to how usually feel when the weekend has ended.

The Flaws of Flawless Robots

The concept of robots without any flaws is definitely tempting and intriguing.  However, flaws are what make humans, humans.  Robots are our idea of a more perfect being: stronger, smarter, faster, more efficient.  The human race needs to be surround not by perfection, but by the flaws that we provide for each other.  Without each other's faults, we would not be able to learn responsibility, patience, understanding, or even love.  Sure, flaws can get annoying, and can even weaken relationships.  But working through each others' faults together will strengthen your bond and show you true love.  Robots may seem perfect, but that is only because we create them to appear that way.  The robots that humans can supposedly have sex with, confide to, or just play with are not true companions.  I understand that moving forward in robotic technology is important and fascinating, but we need to draw the line of what is considered to be taken too far.

We Are Becoming Cyborgs

The idea of the cyborgs was very intriguing to me.  The fact that these people were connected to the internet 24/7 seemed rather excessive and obsessive to me.  They felt "naked" without being connected, and were thought to have better memories and a better personality.  However, I feel that this would be the exact opposite.  With these technologies, your brain would forget how to function on its own, and your personality would not be the real you.  As much as I hate to admit it, humanity itself are becoming cyborgs.  We have our phones, computers, Ipads, Ipods, etc attached to our hips at all times, and we freak out when we don't have them with us; like the cyborgs, we feel naked not being connected.

This may not be the best thing for our society, but at the same time, these technologies enable us to cherish special moments all over again.  Seeing a picture on your phone reminds you of that special time, captured on screen.  Re-reading a text can make you smile or remind you of someone special in your life.  Having the ability to listen to your favorite song on repeat all day long.  These are all examples of the benefits of humanity basically becoming cyborgs.  But we should learn to appreciate these technologies  but not become obsessed and completely dependent on them...

Our Worst-Best Friends

I never believed that it was possible for all of those Syfy movies to come true, the ones where robots begin to take over the world.  However, the first few chapters of Alone Together definitely started to freak me out.  I never realized or put into perspective how intimate our interactions with robot-like objects are.  From a young age, we have been conditioned to believe that it is okay to actually interact with robotic toys.  The book mentions Tamagotchis, Furbys, AIBO dogs, etc to prove that our generation has been around these robots for longer than we realized.  I remember being so confused as a kid when I played with my electronic 20 Questions game.  I never understood how a little computer object could guess exactly what was on my mind, even when I thought I was being tricky.  But that's the whole point Sherry Turkle is trying to make, right?  I tried outsmarting a robot toy, actually believing that it was playing mind games with me.  This point the author has made frightens me a little.  What is next in our world?  Robotic friends, adopted family member robots, robotic teachers, or even robot doctors?  The very idea of it seems absurd, but I am almost positive that some of these topics are already being worked on.  My mind can't help but wander to the negative effects of this on our society.  Children can start developing social disorders, and not know how to interact with their peers or adults around them.  Adults will become reliant on these robots to watch the children, and our entire social system will begin depending on these objects that have no feelings or actual intellect/experience.  But scientists will pay no mind to this, because everyone is after the newest and craziest technologies.  Why cut supply when demand is up?  Well I'll tell you why: because our world should never be taken over by robots.

Final Reflection: Hope For the Future

After finishing The Dumbest Generation, I have very mixed feelings.  I agree with Bauerlein on many points, but I also disagree with him on several occasions as well.  I do believe that a major portion of the blame for our generation's "stupidity" goes to our elders and mentors.  Even though they don't realize it, they have been congratulating us on our ways.  We get A+ grades on papers full of information that we just reworded from the Internet, then forgot about.  They show us the easy way of doing things, and almost all work is done through technology.  How are students supposed to help the fact that the majority of their homework and life tasks are done online?  The generations above us are definitely not helping the matter, yet they frown down upon us for not having a childhood like theirs.  My FYS professor handed out a quiz full of important dates and book titles to the class to prove a point of how our generation doesn't know some of the most important history of our country or world.  I can't help but wonder if the older generations would know these answers either.  Whether you read information from a book or online, you can still just as easily forget the information you just read through.

Bauerlein focuses on the Twixter generation for a big part in the last few chapters in the book.  I do believe that what he says about these 22-30 year olds, who have average jobs, and still reside in their parents household is true, but only to an extent.  This is only a portion of people in this age group, but he makes it seem like it is everyone belonging to that generation.  We have many young and intelligent people in that range, including politicians, surgeons, professors, lawyers, CEO's, etc.  Society actually looks to this specific age group for leadership, knowing that they will bring energy, change, and fresh ideas.  I myself believe that every generation in existence will have those "bums" that just choose to be content with their simple life.  But every generation will also have many motivated and driven people that will change our world.  Not everyone is stupid in this generation, and we are not doomed for failure, as Bauerlein suggests.

Older Generations Should Show Some Respect

Many teens have heard the typical story of one of their friends helping out a parent or grandparent with some sort of technology, or they have experienced it themselves.  When a teenager is new to a technology, whether it is a blog, twitter, Facebook, or even texting, for some it may take just a few tries to figure it completely out.  For others, it could take a couple of days, which still isn’t that bad.  However, most technologies now-a-days are very similar in how they are setup.  Since teens are surrounded by these things on a daily basis, they are more likely to catch on and be able to navigate them much more quickly.  For the older generations, they may or may not find this impressive.  The fact that most teens can be handed a brand new technology and be able to at least get the gist of things almost right away is quite remarkable.  It may not seem like a big deal to society since it has become the norm, but the older generations should definitely hold teens to a higher regard for this.  Some may call it excessive, but it does take some sort of skill to be able to browse through YouTube for music/videos, while tweeting and texting, with the TV on in the background, all at the same time.  However, when it comes to texting and walking, that may take some more practice.

Does Being Dependent Make You Dumb?

For their entire lives, most teenagers have been dependent on others in order to survive.  Their parents provided them with love, food, shelter, water, and the basic necessities of life.  Their teachers have provided them with knowledge, responsibility, and understanding.  Their coaches or mentors have taught them commitment, passion, and perseverance.  With all of this in mind, why is it so shocking that the newest generation of our world is so dependent on technology?  If it is what they have grown up with and are accustomed to, why wouldn’t they feel as if they could fall back on technology?  Our world teaches us dependence, and most of us grow up with our hand being held by someone every step of the way.  We are in a deep, irreversible rut that we will not be getting out of any time soon.  Power outages are a teenagers’ worst fear, and they will tweet about it until their battery dies and they have nothing left to do.  They would be forced to do the unthinkable: play board games, read, or actually interact with their peers.  The older generations frown down upon teenagers for this very reason, saying they need to get out more, skin their knees or climb fences like they did.  But they are forgetting, it’s a new era.  It is a very big thing to ask someone so young to give up what they know best, just to join in on activities so foreign to them that they will find themselves alone.