CONNECTED, BUT ALONE

-Reaction Paper-

TED TALK BY SHERRY TURKLE

SUBMITTED BY:
HANS WEBSTER P. LABORDO
STEM-11B

SUBMITTED TO:
DR. JOY H. PANTINO
PROFESSOR IN ORAL COMMUNICATION
 Connected, but alone?

Technology is and has always been at the forefront of trade, innovation and
communication. It transcends national borders, cultural divides and even language
differences. As profoundly pleasing this sentence might sound, it embodies what I think
is a glaring irony in the creation of technology in the context of personal communication.
The invention of our phones and devices was supposed to link ourselves with each other
and make it seem like distances in the thousands of miles are nothing more than a click
away from instant connection. We’ve become so self-absorbed with our phones that we
stray from actual social connection. The advent of personal assistants is a testament to
this fact; we’d rather occupy ourselves with our phones rather than talk to an actual,
breathing human. I can’t blame them. Think about it. Technology is so incredibly
fascinating that it is nigh impossible to find something more interesting than the things
that it can offer. This might be an unintended consequence of phones: exchanging our
chance to live and feel the moment for what it seems like validation from strangers on
Facebook and Instagram. Now, you might argue that the reality is that these things
were made by and for humans invalidates the fact that it fuels our need for social
contact but at the same time, makes us socially incapable of making a conversation. It
does not. Perhaps our descendants in the future will develop sentient machines that
actually understand the concept of life and death; ones than can truly empathize to our
plights. But until then, we should learn to unplug and see the world for what it truly is –
connected, but alone.