800 word draft

Altirique McElveen

Professor Miller

English

2/5/2024

Are the human population starting to lose their common values of communication? There’s a lot of questions circulating around about how as a collective we may be failing miserably at communicating within each other. Personally, I believe that we are because of the younger generation and they are the cause of it all as they are moving us in the wrong direction. Famous sociologist named Sherry Turkle has a short text called “The Empathy Diaries” which touches on the lack of empathy in human conversations.

Turkle argues that empathy plays a big role in communication because it enables people to experience “intimacy, community , and communion”(Turkle 7). Those 3 things can be the emotional feeling within the conversation that makes it important. In one of her passages called “They Make Acquaintances, but Their Connections Seem Superficial” Turkle includes conversations also being ruined by technology. Turkle emphasizes the word “empathy” plenty of times to grab the reader’s attention on why conversations are so low valued. I completely agree with Turkle here especially when she stated “As the Holbrooke middle schoolers began to spend more time texting, they lost practice in face-to-face talk.”(Turkle 7) because the kids now think that texting is the original way to hold a conversation. That’s where most parents fail at , and that’s not teaching your kids that you need to be able to talk physically ,and be able to speak passionately in a way to build intimacy. Turkle adds to this that “learning to make eye contact, to listen, and to attend to others… teaches children to be in a relationship” (Turkle 7). My connection with this passage is that when I was a little kid my mom used to preach all the time that I shouldn’t be on my phone 24/7 because it doesn’t benefit me that much. Now with me being older, my mom was 100% correct. I’ve grown to actually enjoy having physical conversations with others.

We also have to understand that mobile technology is here to stay and that leaves a lot of wonders as well. However, as we keep appreciating its benefits, it becomes important to consider how it could intrude onto other things we hold dear. Because of this, we must actively confront how mobile technology affects both our personal and societal realms. This means taking two different approaches: first, we need to redesign technology so that it better fits our relationships and well-being; and second, we need to change the way we incorporate these innovations into our daily lives so that they are used thoughtfully and in a way that upholds our core values. Through recognition of the possible disturbances and proactive pursuit of remedies, we may leverage the advantages of mobile technology while reducing its detrimental impacts on our overall welfare. It is necessary to address the possible threats it may represent to our most valued relationships. While there is no denying that smartphones and other technologies have made our lives more efficient and connected, they also carry the risk of impairing our ability to focus, maintain healthy relationships, and maintain mental health. This recognition prompts a call for action on two fronts. Does the exception make the problem go away? Turkle says “We forget how unusual this has become, that many young people are growing up without ever having experienced unbroken conversations either at the dinner table or when they take a walk with parents or friends.”. Most families use dinner time to interact with their children without any distractions at the dinner table and that’s how most children were raised. The privilege of having deep talks over dinner has become uncommon for many people.  Unfortunately, we do have to look at the other end of the stick and point out how many kids never really get that opportunity. I think we focus on one side of a situation all the time and never talk about the children growing up who blatantly don’t have a chance to sit at a dinner table to talk with a family. Stressing the uniqueness of these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities can also act as a wake-up call for people who may be undervaluing them. It becomes necessary to illustrate the significant impact that technology can have on the social fabric of our communities by using the stories of individuals who are deprived of these important contacts. It is possible to cultivate in the younger generation an awareness of mindfulness and thankfulness, which will encourage them to value uninterrupted discussions and actively work to keep these priceless moments alive in the face of rapidly changing technology.  Sherry Turkle is making reference to Thoreau’s idea of the “three chairs,” which stand for solitude, friendship, and society. According to Thoreau, in order to live a more complete life, people should balance their experiences in these three areas.