Sherry Turkle, a public speaker represented by Ted Talk introduces a fear of losing social abilities through new technologies. With the world at our finger tips, it seems that our sense of reality is slowly vanishing. Turkle believes that generations are beginning to fear the state of being alone, so they resort immediately to their phones. That may be the case for younger children who are developing technology skills at earlier stages than ever before. However, adults and older generations primarily use their source of technology to contact others only when necessary. Children are supposed to be developing their social skills for a long period of time. With the access to phones and other sources of media, their need for physical contact is no longer important to them. This can be risky and can prevent children from developing the skills that they need to communicate efficiently with others. As a late developer in technology, I have not been surrounded by it as much as children today may have. So, as a young adult, I do not depend primarily on my phone to complete my daily use of communication. Has it become a large part of my day? Yes. However, I use my device in order to keep in touch with my family and friends at home while I am three hours away at college. Otherwise, I feel no need to converse with anyone else unless necessary, so I tend to keep my conversations in person.

Notes/Quotes: “Someday, someday, but certainly not now, I would like to learn how to have a conversation. . . .”

Takes place in real time, can’t plan what you’re going to say

“I would rather text than talk”

“we’re developing social robots”

“People experience pretend empathy. . . .”

“We expect more from technology, and less from each other”

“I share, therefore I am”

“If we’re not able to be alone, we’re going to be more lonely”

“start thinking of solitude as a good thing”