Reflection #2

Category 2: The Writing Process

     The writing process contributed to my improvements as a writer by aiding me in my revisions, because prior to this class, I would not have gone to the writing tutors to check my work; however, now I not only go for WIFYS, but other classes that require me to write papers as well. In addition, I have learned different ways that I can elaborate on a topic. With help from the "he said, she said" activity we did, it became a lot easier for me to express the authors arguments and my viewpoints through my writing. 

     I learned that I able to make arguments back to authors about certain topics regarding my stance on an issue. I also learned that I am very opinionated about a lot of the topics that our class has gone over thus far in the course. Through the writing process, I was able to master the different techniques that can make my essay more improved in clarifying my arguments in relation to the original perspective.

     In my writing, I stated: "Personally, I would agree with this statement to an extent, because people do get mocked for using proper sentence structure when posting content online; however, I do not believe that this topic can be an argument to stand up for his thesis that we are the dumbest generation." Here, I used the "he said, she said" method to express that while I do understand where Bauerlein is coming from to argue his views, but I do think his evidence is not at all good enough to make his statements true.

     Writing is collaborative, because there are a lot of instances where you can improve just by hearing another person's perspective on your writing. I found this to be especially true with my conferences with you and my tutor because each time would improve my paper substantially. In addition, having just a peer look over my paper would offer insight to my own arguments if they made sense to the reader or not. 

Developing My Thesis

1.  Done.
2. I am mainly leaning towards the side that most-supports Turkle. Her arguments seemed like they made the most sense to me and she was the most persuasive because she didn't blame others to back up an argument. 
3. Answers:
• Harming for the most part.
• Very much so, since people are persistently distracted in everyday tasks by our devices. And yea, because people are not truly themselves online; anyone can create an enhanced persona of themselves if they want to appear better online. 
• Yea, becuase social media and other outlets have created a social norm for being online and how people are allowed to talk or not talk or express themselves without being harassed. People tend to be very different than theit online personalities. 
• I belive that thus far, this generation has not proven to be the dumbest because humanity as a whole is dumb.
• 
  
4. Look at sheet for info.
5. Also on sheet.
6. Someone can definitely argue with my statement, because towards the beginning of my research  in the topic, I was on the other side and also had a lot of evidence to back up that side's claim. Those statements aren't adequate because they aren't detailed enough and don't give any effort.
7. Written on sheet.

Ted Talk With Turkle

      I think that the internet is such an easy thing to become addicted to because it literally knows everything that you don't. The same can be said for social media, because people are not comfortable with solitude like humans used to be before technology. So, often you see people who can't sit and do nothing; people will use their one free moment in the day to check all their feeds or to watch Netflix. This becomes habitual and everyone is guilty of it. Our connections online are almost fake in a sense, because we desire a greater connection than we are receiving. If someone doesn't like your picture or text you back, it means they are uninteresting in the content you are sharing.
     A human's natural reaction is to connect with other humans. In my opinion, I believe that we, as humans, are losing our ability to connect with others simply because our world's are revolving around our devices. In other terms, I think that we should shift towards lessening the need for social media. This type of outlet was originally created to connect people virtually, but has unfortunately caused more people to become susceptible to having an inability to give the necessary attention to the person they are physically with simply because their devices take priority.
     In Turkle's lecture, she expresses the deep devotion humans have to our devices. I personally can't argue with this notion, because so much of my day is taken up by my need to fill time with being online. This habit of needing to see what others are doing and interacting virtually is problematic, because we are losing our ability to connect with others on a personal level. Turkle's perspectives seemed to be the least attacking towards the reader; she looked more at the psychological effects on people than directing blame on others.
     As time goes on, technology will keep advancing as it has proven to do in the past. As this happens, our need for devices can only increase, especially for kids in the next generation. Younger generations are more in trouble because devices already play a role in their lives. For instance, a parent will give their phone to their kid to play angry birds to pass time or to shut them up for a while. Their dependence on devices at such an early age will only increase their need for technology later on in life. This is problematic, because technology will never go away, it will keep improving and advancing which will only increase our desire to have it which will make our connections with others even worse than they are today.
   

QDW #4: "Connected, but Alone"

     The title of Dr. Turkle's book and lecture are both representative of the lifestyle of being connected in a virtual sense, but slightly alone in physical interactions. She gives the example of her daughter and her friends hanging out together, but each of them is sitting in a room on their phones doing nothing at all with their time together. This practice of being together while being off in your own world, denying each other of their full attention, and being on their phones is something she stresses importance on throughout her lecture. She also gave the example of people on their phones during funerals. She claims that "we remove ourselves from our grief and our reverie and go into our phones" as an outlet of comfort or distraction. Her argument is that these occurrences cause problems of being able to relate to one another because people want to have control over where they put their attention.
     I agree with most of the topics Dr. Turkle discussed in her lecture. One quote in specific that she mentions is that "human relationships are rich and messy and demanding; and we clean them up with technology." This excerpt from her lecture insinuates that people are meant to sometimes have imperfect relationships, but people are so dependent on technology and media to make it easier for people to have relationships that aren't fully reality. Our reliance on technology to improve relations with others makes it incredibly harder for us to connect completely in person. Going along with this notion, another issue she expressed was when she said, "we sacrifice conversation for mere connection." This basically meant that we are all striving for a connection but are perpetually losing interest in having intimate conversations that are necessary in order to get to know people. The problematic part of this issue is that people are losing it, but no one seems to care because we are all living in a technologically advanced era where evolution will forever be inevitable. She later goes on to discuss social media as a whole and how it affects our conversations with each other and ourselves. In her lecture she states "that's why it is so appealing to have a Facebook page or a twitter feed with so many automatic listeners." This causes temptation amongst people who feel as if no one is listening to them, so they will expel their feelings to machines in an attempt to strike a conversation. This also goes along with her next comment that "we expect more from technology and less from each other." I agree with this statement because so often, I will go on my twitter feed and see 'subtweets' (which are tweets intended for another specific viewer's attention) perpetually from people who are trying to capture the attention of the person they are referring to but are too scared to talk to about their issue. The problem with this type of conversation is that people aren't actually connecting, but are attempting to fill a void that should actually be filled with physical conversation. This type of content "expresses, but it doesn't solve an underlying problem."
     Dr. Turkle's viewpoint, while seemingly similar in some sense to both Lasn and Baurlin, differs in some aspects. One thing that she says that is different from the other two is that people are not to be blamed for their attention deficiency to one another during conversations, but technology as a whole is to be blamed. Lasn argues that the world is to blame for their overuse of technology, and Baurlin claims that young people are to blame for being plain dumb. I think that opinion wise, Turkle and Lasn have more points that support each other while Baurlin is altogether negative towards a specific group of people. However, all three have a common thesis: that technology plays too big a role in our daily lives. If I had to side with one person's arguments more than the other two, I would side with Turkle.

"They Say, I Say"

1. The title of the introduction reveals that the role of a research / argumentative writer is to make sure to make their arguments are being expressed thoroughly. If your point of view on a persuasive topic is not shown from the beginning of your argument, the reader will not be as informed. 
2. The "they say, I say" formula insinuates that the person making the argument not only has to define what it is that he or she believes, but also the perspectives of their opposing views. It is important to express both sides of the scenario because there is never only one viewpoint on any topic. By only stating your perspective on a topic creates bias. The one underlying feature is that academic writing is deeply engaged with other people's views. This means that you cannot argue if there is not another point of view to argue with.
3. The purpose of these templates are to challenge the opposing viewpoints while addressing the evidence to why your viewpoint is more accurate. The templates help to open up room for debate on the controversial topic of choice. They also help to advocate for your claim; this will be used with proper evidence and quotations. A writer should consider using them because it not only enhances the way your essay comes across to the reader, but offers some light on the opposing viewpoint which helps to prevent bias.
4. Dr. X's theory is that the writer needs to clearly indicate that the thesis they have is something that is being responded to by another point of view.
5. Templates I would like to use:
1. "In their recent work, Y and Z have offered harsh critiques of Dr. X for _______"
2. "Americans tend to believe that _______"
3. "One implication of X's treatment ______ is that ______"
6. It was stated that the most common ways to responding to an author is disagreeing and agreeing, and sometimes a combination of both. 
7. The best tactic for beginning is to not go straight into pouring out all of your reseach and details about your opinion, but to inform the reader on your stance: whether you agree, disagree or both. 
8. Templates based on technology affecting our youth:
1. AGREE: The theory of technology affecting our youth in a harmful way is extremely useful because it sheds insight on the difficult problem of kids being overly attached to technology and the cause of detrimental habits.
2. DISAGREE: I think Dr. Mark's vis mistaken, because he overlooks the vast improvements in society and the economy as an outcome of technological advancements.

QDW #3: Ecology Of The Mind

     Lasn argues to the reader that while technological advancements are inevitable, the world population as a whole has become too dependent on media and technology in general. He also displays information about technology causing detrimental mental problems throughout the years with people across the globe. This raises concern because technology will perpetually improve and expand because evolution is inevitable. As more and more of our world is becoming reliant on technology to assist us in our daily tasks, we are creating a world that revolves around media and devices.
     In his paper, Lasn tries to express that what is meant to be an outlet for people to be connected, social media has made humans today even more isolated. A person could have 800 friends on Facebook, but only fully know about 200. This is unsafe because people really shouldn't share personal information about their lives with total strangers. Another issue that has obstructed our ability to engage in the natural world is the detrimental affect on our health. Things such as social media have proven to cause mental disorders such as depression because of content posted online. This spike in depression amongst young people can be shocking and nerve racking because it will only get worse from here as technology grows.
     If Lasn and Baurlin were put in a room together, I would think that they would agree that technology does not play a helpful role in our lives. They would probably also agree that media is taking people's attention, causing it to be hard for people to stay on task and pay attention. On the other hand, I believe that they would disagree on a few things. For instance, Baurlin believes that our generation is just dumb, while Lasn believes that we have become too dependent on the role of technology in our lives. Another thing they might disagree on is that Baurlin directed the blame on the youth while Lasn focuses on the world as a whole.
     I do agree with a lot of Lasn's points, because the increase of people on social media creates a whole world online that people are enraptured in. This is not healthy, because people should meet others in person, and not create fake relationships online with others. Also, the spike in depression amongst young people on social media is something that people should be concerned about. People are also becoming far too desensitized by what they see on the news and online; this can be a byproduct of media playing too important of a role in our daily lives. Regardless, I agree with Lasn when he expresses that people are far too dependent on technology in their daily lives.