Plugging: A Disconnection from Reality and Personality?

We live in a world heavily dependent on technology that advances every second

that passes. Releases of gadgets are so hyped up that people lines up days earlier just to
be the first to get the newest technology. Sherry Turkle, a psychologist, talked about
how promising technology was in terms of communication when it first reached the
people and how it became one of the reasons why they isolate themselves physically.
How did it go from a want, to being a need that we can’t even live without it? Is using
virtual communication really that bad?
Turkle opened her talk by mentioning the text message her daughter sent her.
She felt like that text was a gesture of support, like getting a hug. A simple message like
that she said is enough but too much, it can be a problem. She made statement which
we can all agree with, a world where spam messages are just a waste of time. She likes
technology, she saw the potential it has to help people communicate and now she even
sleeps with her phone. We can tell by that statement alone how we became inseparable
from our devices, especially the younger generation who grew up always holding one.
“Those little devices in our pockets are so psychologically powerful that they
don’t just change what we do, they change who we are”. It spoke volumes to me, I,
myself transition from someone who eats dinner together with my family to just saying
“later” because I’m on my phone talking to my online friends. She said that the thing we
do now with our devices would’ve been unusual few years back. The trends as well as
the time we spend staring at our screens, holding it for few hours and talking to it. It
didn’t just affect the way we do things but even our lives. By change though it doesn’t
always mean bad, it helped if used the right way, it made communicating easier.
Technology made it possible to receive a message miles away in just a second for
whatever the purpose is.
The fact that we’ve grown accustomed to holding it every second of the day, we
feel odd letting go and moving away from it even just for a few minutes. It became a
part of us which, in my point of view, is not good because technically we shouldn’t rely
on it that much but really, the problem is the way we use it not the technology itself.
We use it at times where we shouldn’t, even when eating or studying, some even uses it
while showering.
She said it became a distraction instead of communication to the “real” face to
face communication. Our attention is almost always directed to the devices we’re using,
which is not good but it connects us to what we call a community, a community of
people who are similar to us, people who are “also disconnected” to the real world. So
why can’t we just let go of this habit of being virtually connected? She talked about the
connection of “the Goldilocks Effect”; she said virtually communicating with someone
can keep you at just the right distance, not too close and not too far. By the distance I
perceived it in two ways, physically and emotionally. People like the idea of being able
to control things even in communication. I get the hype; I somehow understand how
people now rely on technology. Everything is just a click away, there’s no need to wait
for weeks for a reply, or go to the mall to check new clothes, and even food can be
delivered just by using your phone. The thing is, it’s not healthy, it’s starting to become
an addiction, a sickness this “generation” have. But come to think of it, we seek a way to
relax, to getaway, to be somewhere else maybe not physically but the modern
technology provides us that, is it bad to disconnect from the negative that is physically
around you? We all have reasons why we use technology.
Sherry Turkle’s point was that the use of technology became a hindrance to real
world communication. She stated an example, saying how parents ignore their children
at the dinner table because of their smartphones, a typical movie scenario as well.
Contrary to her statement as stated by Robson (2012) even before such advance
technology was invented, parents already have their own ways of ignoring their children
such as newspapers or books. Well maybe this kind of morality where they ignore their
children became the reason why they seek attention somewhere, the plugged in life
perhaps? The internet made us feel right from the beginning that we are not alone. That
whether it’s a real person behind the screen or just a program, we will still have
someone, and aren’t we all obsessed with the thought of always having someone there
with us, to listen, like we’re the centre of their attention?
She’s concerned that people will rather text than talk, well virtual
communication is not all about typing now, a video call per se can now show facial
expression, gestures, occulesics while still talking. Connection may not always be
equivalent to communication but it can be. Yes she’s right with the fact that we should
learn how to disconnect in order to feel connected to ourselves, to know ourselves.
People also do find themselves, their passion, through technology. We can also feel
alone even though we have access to virtual communication. We can still rely on
someone else even though we’ve felt alone in real life. People still use other’s just as
someone to lean on because that’s the purpose of having someone, physically or not.
I got mixed reaction from the talk. She’s right about how we like being alone but
not alone but is it really because of technology? Don’t people isolate themselves with
books too or by their hobbies? Are we really afraid of communicating in real time
because we don’t have a control to what we’re going to say? Does it really not work for
knowing each other or coming to understand each other? I beg to disagree. I found
people from the virtual world who can par up with the closeness I have with the friends
I met in this world, I came to know them and understand them without even meeting
them. Communicating both real time and virtually needs some thorough thinking
whenever you say something because that’s the right way to do it, and
SScommunicating online can even be a good starter before talking in real life.
I see nothing wrong with using a smartphone or relying on technology,
everything’s easier that way. We should advance just the way technology advances
because if not, then what’s the use? Virtual community, chat rooms, there’s nothing
wrong with communicating that way as well especially if there’s a huge physical
distance separating the two; it is all about how we use it. Like the goldilocks effect,
online communication should be used “just right” not too less and not too much.

Athena P. Lising
B.S PSYCHOLOGY 1-1