Nicole Eldridge
Eric Leake
Extended Essay #1
What Are We
Becoming?
This is essay is for the youngest, Western
generation of today, who has never gotten the opportunity to live in a society
where technology did not transcend onto virtually every aspect of their routine,
daily life. Reading and writing can now all be done through a computer, whereas
my generation still had the chance to live in a society in which technology was
still developing and had not fully taken over such aspects of daily life.
Essentially, my generation was one of the last to have something to compare this
age of revolutionary, instant technology because we formed part of the
transition from the old age of technology to the new age of technology. If our
younger generations are not taught the difference, this could potentially harm
our society and its ability for intellectual thinking. As long as they become
informed, society can move forward, using this incredible amount of technology
to their advantage.
I fondly remember
the days when I would anxiously await the Sunday newspaper, so I could read the
cartoons and try to practice an elevated level of reading by trying to read
through the fascinating news articles. At this time, I was about seven years
old; reading the newspaper was a simple pleasure for a little girl like me, who
wanted to imitate her father. After I was done reading, I would skim the
sections of the newspaper and I would end up trying to figure out movie
schedules at different theaters. While I looked for movie times, my father was
figuring out the end results for different sports games. Whether it was college
ball or professional level, my father enjoyed reading the sports articles and
statistics. Later on, I enjoyed getting on the computer to try and play a
poorly made computer game called “Minesweeper”. If I had any homework and wanted
to look up information online, I would have to use the dial up chord, and it
would take what seemed to be an eternity’s worth of time listening to strange,
extraterrestrial-like noises come out of the bulky computer. Instead, I would go to the library and check
out a million books to gather my research from. The process would take a while
because I had to filter out lots of information, but in the end I would come up
with a fabulous amount of information and sources. During my free time, besides
playing with Barbie dolls, Pokémon cards, and my yellow Gameboy Color, I loved
reading books; this was also to attain lots of AR (accelerated reading) points
at my school and keep my top score in the classroom. As I write this
description of my childhood habits, I am shockingly surprised by how different
contemporary society is. If one thinks about it, it has not even been a decade
since technology dramatically changed.
Now, you as a
younger generation might be a bit confused that only 10 years back people led the
lifestyle that I describe to you in the paragraph above. Let me guess, you have
never read the newspaper? To you, the newspaper is just that rolled up wad of
grey papers sitting in your recycling been…untouched. You did not even know
there were cartoon comics in one of the sections. On the real, you probably do
not read cartoons anyways…unless you are some sort of a geek. In all honesty,
who even checks the newspaper for movie theater schedules or sports statistics?
That is such a “grandpa” habit. Just Google your inquiry and the information is
instantly available, this way you do not even have to wait for the “newspaper
boy” to come and do his rounds. Maybe you thought, “what the heck is
Minesweeper, there thousands of other online games, and plus I have a Wii or an
Xbox; I do not really need computer games.” These days, you have probably never
been exposed to dial-up Internet; how strange and awful does it sound to have
to call an Internet service via computer and listen to alien-like sounds until
your Internet is connected. Plus, dial-up Internet is about 15 times slower
than you would be used to (I am not going to lie, dial-up internet would be
living torture for you high speed internet pros). Not to mention, the computer
would not have been a sleek, flat screen, but a bulky machine. Also, unless
your teacher makes you go to check out a book in the library, or you are one of
those kids who is a bookworm, you probably never stop by the library for fun.
Certainly, you never stop by the library to do research when Google and
Wikipedia are all you need. And I am positive that you get your research done
extremely quickly, because you type a lot faster than I did at your age.
Consider your generation a fortunate bunch; you have all of the perks in the
world and life is made easier and more efficient. But do not let that make you become too lazy
to independently function, especially when it comes to your reading and writing
habits. Young generations, even mine,
are being looked down upon for their reliance on the Internet and technology.
Honestly, this age has its positive and negative consequences on reading and
writing habits, and I believe that as long as they are addressed, society can
continue to use technology to their advantage without letting it supplement
human intelligence and capacity.
According
to Andrew Sullivan, online writing has brought society many beneficial
advantages to the writing world. Blogging is an extremely popular form of
online writing, one that Sullivan strongly advocates. Before, if one wanted to
instantly write their thoughts on a subject, pen, paper, and a limited to
non-existent audience would have to suffice. Only if one was a published author
or in a journalistic profession, would a piece of writing reach a larger
audience. Yet with blogging, we can publish our instant thought to a vast
audience without being a journalist, one we cannot even fathom. “We blog now—as
news reaches us, as facts emerge . . . it is, in many ways, writing out loud”
(Sullivan 2). Indeed, this is privilege that the technology of the 21st
century has granted us; to be able to express our thoughts instantly to an
audience other than ourselves, makes us more proud of our work. Furthermore, the
criticism given to us helps us build and better our writing skills. With all of
the Facebook, Twitter, and texting controversies, younger generations must
prove their abilities as writers more than ever before. Much criticism is
generated towards the era of social networking and chatting, because it is said
to diminish our capacity to create intellectual, grammatically correct pieces
of writing. In a world where “lol” has substituted laughing and there is an
abbreviation for almost anything, there is a reason to be skeptical about a
young person’s writing skills. As a younger generation, one must remember the
importance of maintaining an educated status when it comes to writing. Older
generations wrote beautifully and eloquently written pieces of literature, and
as a younger generation we must strive to keep the eloquence and art of writing
alive in our own works. Because of the fact that we are quickly granted access
to various sorts of literature, I believe we have the capability to preserve
and continue an elevated form or writing. As Clive Thompson’s article “Clive Thompson
on the New Literacy” states, “young people today write far more than any other generation
before them . . . because so much socializing takes place online, and it almost
always involves text . . .out of the classroom–life writing” (Thompson 1). Thompson said that Professor Lunsford did a
writing study with her students at Harvard, “When Lunsford examined the work of
first-year students, she didn’t find a single example of texting speak in an
academic paper” (Thompson 2). Personally, I believe this to be a crucial part
of writing today. As long as younger generations do not confuse “text talk” with
“school talk”, generations can continue to move forward with their writing
abilities. If a person can differentiate the level of academic writing that is
required depending on an audience, and has the educated capacity to do so, I
believe that young writers will continue to preserve an excellent level of
writing. So far, I think our generations have been doing so; I have been
personally impressed by the level of writing exerted by my college peers and
believe that generations to come will be able to continue along the same
footsteps.
Nonetheless,
although the Internet has its benefits, it also has disadvantageous effects on
our technology-crazed society. In all sincerity, all generations have their
pros and cons; people always find something to criticize and compare to. For example, Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is
Google Making Us Stupid”, states that readers have begun to struggle with
lengthy texts. Carr addresses people who use the Internet and computer
technology and says, “the more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to
stay focused on long pieces of writing” (Carr 2). The habit of “power reading”
or skimming through text has affected our ability to read, or concentrate while
reading deep, profound texts. Honestly, I completely agree, the distractions
that come with technology (i.e. Facebook) truly do affect our ability to stay
focused. Is there anything we can do to fix this? Well, although trying to
ignore the calls of the Facebook notifications and text messages, sometimes it
seems virtually impossible. Chris Hedges’ article, “America the Illiterate”,
demonstrates the extremist, hateful point of view that some people have on
modern day society. He states, “we have moved from a print based society to an
image based society” (Hedges 3).
Although I do not agree with this perspective, I understand where this
point of view is coming from. When one looks at a magazine, one is immediately
drawn to the images, one skims the images of news headlines, and one is drawn
to the images on advertisements the list goes on. It is true; one does not take
the time to fully read the rest of a text if there is an image to sum it up.
Moreover, Nicholas Carr believes that the age of the Internet has become
an age where “artificial intelligence” is replacing “human intelligence”. Artificial
intelligence is seen as the computer, the Internet, etc. which according to
Carr can replace human thinking. Never. Humans must learn to intelligently use
the Internet and computer in order to be productive with the technology. Yes,
societies with Internet access have definitely become lazier, but never less
intelligent; the human brain is the most amazing tool that we have access to. To
conclude, although technology has its plusses, young generations must be
careful that these plusses do not turn into negative luxuries that harm our
reading abilities.
Truly,
young generations have no going back. This is a new era, we have learned to
accept it and accommodate to its lifestyle; we have become accustomed to its
advantages and its efficiency. When it comes to writing, it seems that younger
generations continue to practice and develop positive writing skills. Although
texting and Facebook messaging are not always grammatically correct, young
generations seem to be able to distinguish the difference between informal,
social writing and academic, professional writing. If this cycle continues
writing will continue to grow and expand. Yet, I do not believe the same goes
for reading. It is extremely difficult for people to read like they used to.
Concentration is being diminished and one prefers to skim texts instead of
going through the trouble of reading the entire work. For many, reading has
become a hassle. Young generations should strive to bring back a culture in
which reading is a routine, yet enjoyable task. In my opinion, reading has
become more negatively affected then writing, but I believe that YOU, the
younger generations will address and can strive to change this concern more
than ever and prove to the world that technology will not affect your abilities
to become critical, intellectual, and advanced readers and writers. Instead, of
you becoming a slave of technology and the age of the Internet, this technology
should become a slave to you.
