What has our world come to? - Group C

After reading Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together, I must admit that I am worried just how much we depend on technology and even more so what we depend on it for. The readings we’ve had for this class up until this point have generally been based around the idea of using technology to make everyday tasks easier, promote democracy, and alter the way we think. However, Alone Together brings up the way some people utilize technology as their own personal companion, in more ways than one.

In the “Author’s Note: Turning Points”, the claim that we as individuals “fear the risks and disappointments of relationships with our fellow humans” and so “expect more from technology and less from each other” really caught my attention because when I usually think about technology I typically think about how it connects us and essentially brings us together. This statement, however, raises the point that now more than ever we protect ourselves from hardship and pain through technology. For example, in the “Introduction” section of this reading, the author talks about how the Zhu Zhu toy pet hamsters are “presented as ‘better’ than any real pet could be” because they are “loveable and responsive, don’t require cleanup, and will never die” (pg. 1). It bothers me that we are replacing the animate with inanimate objects in order to avoid things we have no control over, such as death. Moreover, some people would prefer interacting with a robot rather than a human in order to avoid things like cheating husbands and children who take drugs (pg. 10). It is evident we are turning to technology to avoid fear and pain, but I think that dealing with hardship builds character and is how we grow as a person; it makes me sad that we are too scared to experience struggle and will do anything to completely avoid things that are just a part of life to the point of having a robot as a best friend or companion.

The author states that we put so much hope in robots and technology because we have “technological optimism”, which is the belief that as other things go wrong in life, science will go right (pg.11). I found this interesting because in so many of the readings we’ve done in class, such as Digital Disconnect, include rather long lists of negativity that has emerged from technology. I think that people either underestimate or don’t realize the trouble of the unintended consequences which result from technology; today’s day in age is so wrapped up in innovation and how to make things faster, easier, and more realistic that we as a whole do not see the big picture of how it can ultimately affect us in something other than a positive manner.

I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I am not a big fan of human-robot relationships of any kind, whether that’d be as a companion, pet, or lover as Sherry Turkle discusses in Alone Together. I believe that as we limit face to face and overall human contact with each other, we are cheating ourselves of being able to grow as a person and appreciate the real, natural things life has to offer. Yes, in a perfect world people and pets wouldn’t die, your boyfriend or girlfriend wouldn’t break up with you, and you’d never fight with your parents. But we don’t live in a perfect world. I think we are trying to create a perfect world through technology and unfortunately believe it will never happen. What do you think?