Teaching In The Age Of Distraction Summary

Alive But Not Living A relatively new epidemic is threatening everything we treasure most. Unlike the Black Plague long ago this epidemic very slowly takes its course. Although it’s something that does not kill you, it also does not let you live. Technology is taking away everything we hold dear. Sherry Turkle warns in her essay, “Teaching In The Age Of Distraction,” published in The Chronicle Review, of the skills and abilities we are losing to technology. She cautions, “When you train your brain to multitask as your default approach — when you choose hyper attention — you won’t be able to focus even when you want to” (Turkle). This is extremely frightening because we need to have the ability to focus in every part of life. A hindered education and career issues are terrifying to comprehend. However, what is most troubling is the inability to listen to one’s own children in the future. With that being said, Sherry Turkle’s stance on the issue of technology is clear and easy to understand. To say Turkle is a credible source would be the understatement of the year. The author is the professor of social studies of science and technology at MIT. As if that is not enough, Turkle also holds a BA in Social Studies and a Ph.D. in Sociology and Personality Psychology at Harvard University. With an abundant amount of credibility to back her, Turkle does an excellent job diagnosing and

When used in moderation technology has the power to be very beneficial. The internet has a vast amount of information and is often needed to do a number of tasks. Even Turkle claims laptops and smartphones don’t need to be removed. This is because they are a part of our creative lives. As Sherry Turkle says, “The goal is to use them with greater intention, to live with them in greater harmony.” Sadly this is not the case and many tend to abuse the advantage they