Emily King Stephen McElroy ENC 3416 17 Oct. 2011
Week 8 SRR When I was fifteen years old, I got a Myspace. My mom was wary about it because it started to suck up so much of my time, but she let me go through with it. About a week ago, I received a Facebook friend request from my seven‐year‐old cousin. I was honestly appalled. I don’t think our coming generations will be able to relate to older generations even more so than usual because technology is accelerating so rapidly. The article’s comments on memory seriously scare me. When I meet people, I ask them what their name is, they tell me their name, and I am unable to repeat it back to them two minutes later. According to Bill Keller’s article, until the 15th century, people’s memories were so trained that some were able to recite entire books. I have trouble memorizing a two‐minute speech. The advancement of technology is helpful, but it has become a replacement for learning when it should be just an aid to learning. When I’m watching a movie or reading a book and hear a word I have never heard before, I look it up on Google with my iPhone. When I get the definition, that book or movie makes more sense to me and I feel like I have learned something, but chances are that I’m not going to remember it. I’ve found myself looking up the same words over and over again because I’ve forgotten. Our shrinking memories makes me wonder: if we continue to rely on technology as our memory, will it even be possible for us to use our brains to our full potential ever again? As for our shrinking attention spans, here is a real life personal example: I’m writing an SRR with Facebook, Twitter, Outlook email, and Blackboard tabs open. This has become the norm for me, as well as the average college student. I have clicked away from this Word document to see whether anything profound had happened on Facebook or Twitter at least ten times and I barely even realize I’m doing it until I’ve looked through an entire photo album. I have had to deactivate my Facebook when school and extracurricular activities required more of my time because I knew that I would lose time from the Internet. It has become a worldwide addiction. The Internet has unquestionably enhanced many aspects of our lives, but I’m worried about the work ethic and attention spans of future generations who are growing up with it. I think the quote, “The generation that had information, but no context. Butter, but no bread. Craving, but no longing” best summarizes Keller’s article. It makes us sound so empty and dull, and it makes me really sad because it is true. I feel like my generation doesn’t need to learn how to do anything other than use Google and keep up with the newest Apple technology. He mentions that typing has killed penmanship, which made me realize that I could easily get by through college without writing a single word on a sheet of paper. I could use my MacBook to record lectures, the provided teacher PowerPoints to study, and submit my papers on BlackBoard. This makes me wonder whether I’m actually receiving a complete education. My education is supposed to prepare me for the real world. I’m afraid that the education I’m receiving is not well‐rounded because the world we live in is not well‐rounded.