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Joel Hermosillo

Professor Graham

Composition II

31 January 2023

Wifi in the Woods analysis

Jason Mark is an editor for the environmental quarterly Earth Island Journal. In 2014, he

wrote an article called Wifi in the Woods where he talks about his experience in an Arctic village

where there is practically little to no internet connection. One of his companions, DJ Spooky,

starts to get all “twitchy” and anxious about not being connected to wifi. This gets Mark thinking

about the pros and cons of having access to wifi wherever you are in the world whether that’d be

in the middle of nowhere or if you're lost in the middle of the forest. It is hinted at the beginning

that he is against the idea of having wifi accessible anywhere you go. Although he does make

good points about why he is against this idea, it isn’t a very convincing argument. This essay is

going to utilize the Toulmin method to analyze the claim, reasons, and evidence, as well as

counterclaims and warrants. As well as explain why this article isn’t a well-convincing argument.

Claim

After reading the article, it is very clear that Mark is not in favor of the idea of having

wifi accessible in all parts of the world. In the first subheading behind the title, the author claims

the ability to be fully disconnected from the world “is at risk in an ever-more-connected world”

(Wifi in the woods). This claim is absolute since he doesn’t use any qualifiers to state his dislike

against universal access to the internet. The author also responds to the idea by saying “ I think

I’ll pass”(Mark, Wifi in the wood). The claim is also reasonable as the author does make good
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points as to why he’s against the idea and he also tries to understand why others may favor the

idea of wifi all over the world.

Reasons

There are a couple of reasons why the author makes his claim. One reason why the author

is against worldwide access to wifi is because he states that he “loves the wildlife” and that he is

worried that being connected to everyone will get rid of the ability to be “away” and that could

be no place to hide(Mark, Wifi in the woods). Another reason he made his claim was because of

his observation of how his companion, DJ Spooky, started acting erratic and disoriented from

being disconnected for only a few hours. Which made the author begin to think about the effects

of being connected and disconnected from the internet. As mentioned earlier, both reasons are

stated by the author. These are good reasons as to why the author would state his claim however,

they aren’t very convincing as they seem to be based on personal preference and experience.

Evidence

The author mentions as technology advances more and more, the ability to be fully

disconnected becomes less and less possible. As stated by Mark, Google will spend $1-$3 billion

dollars in deploying drone satellites that provide internet from the sky. Which in turn, would

entice people to use their devices since universal connectivity is in a way “exciting”(Wifi in the

woods). People will be able to share pictures of their outdoor activities immediately after they

take a selfie above a tall mountain or check in on real-time weather before exploring outdoors.

Another piece of evidence he uses is the Parks in Canada has 20 campgrounds and visitor centers

that will be connected and plan to extend the connectivity up to 150 locations in its parks within
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three years, which is favored by the Canadian press. This also gets the attention of one of

Canada’s famous nature writers, Farley Mowat, for which he replies that this idea is “disastrous,

stupid, and should be eliminated immediately”(Wifi in the woods). This all relates to how Mark

claims that as technology and wifi accessibility advances, and everyone is able to connect

anywhere, then “there will be no place to hide from the internet”(Wifi in the woods). Another

piece of evidence the author uses is that worldwide connectivity is a violation of the Wilderness

Act of 1964 as it defines the wilderness as a place for solitude and that checking something like

an email can compromise that solitude. He follows it up by saying that solitude can have

personal and psychological benefits. All the evidence the author used seems more anecdotal

since they are based more on personal preferences and experience. And when he tries to show

that the feeling of being “disconnected” is at risk and that more people will use their devices

while outdoors, he only mentions the advancement in technology that would allow worldwide

connectivity but doesn’t show any statistical proof or analysis that would suggest that people will

use their devices more and more while outdoors.

Warrants

One warrant that is mentioned in the article is when the author talks about an interview

with National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, about his thoughts on the idea of having

accessible internet in the woods. Jarvis states that people will always bring their devices with

them. Although he isn't wrong that people will bring their devices even if they are told not to,

this only applies to people who are constantly glued to the screen of a phone or who listen to

music with their MP3 player. The author then follows up on how a glance at a phone can disrupt

even the most remote of places. The warrant is strong as it does help strengthen the claim that the

ability to fully disconnect from the internet is lessening.

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Counterclaim

A few counterclaims about the plan for worldwide connectivity are stated in the article,

one example as mentioned before is the capability to check real-time weather so that outdoor

hikers or travelers can decide whether it is safe to continue with their outdoor activities. Another

counterclaim was mentioned by Jarvis where he states that devices like phones are “powerful

tools that can be used to communicate with the next generation”(Wifi in the woods).

Overall Evaluation

Overall the author does make a good claim and does back it up with good reasons and

evidence, however, it would be considered a very strong argument since everything Mark says is

based on his own personal preference of being an outdoor person and doesn’t use any statistical

or analytical evidence. The same thing can be said with the counterclaim, as he only mentioned

the counterclaim because someone else said it, and the author just agrees with it. Overall, this

article would only work to show the author’s opinion on the subject however, this isn’t good for

convincing readers to agree with his claim since as mentioned before, it’s all mostly based on the

author's own preferences.

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Works Cited

Mark, Jason. “WIFI in the Woods.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 10 Aug. 2014,

www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/wifi-in-the-woods/375635/.