Considering the various articles we’ve been responsible for reading; I was able to build on my ability to analyze texts more critically. This is especially true since we read multiple articles which allowed me to practice more on thoroughly and effectively reading. My approach when it came to annotating these texts was to ultimately try to make sense of the information that was presented in a form that I could understand. When it came to determining what to mark up, it is evident that my approach was to rephrase or provide my own interpretation of what I read in my own words. By doing this it helped me better acknowledge what ideas or themes are being brought up. I also had the tendency to underline a sentence or passage that I found to be important and was a strong statement that needed attention. Using the underlining technique was also a way for me to make relationships between ideas in the text to other moments that I’ve experienced or witnessed. My ability to engage with a text in a more critical manner is highlighted in Carr’s text, “Is Google Making Us Stupid” based on the dedication and time I spent in order to fully comprehend his thoughts. For instance, in one section of his text I annotated a few of his statements by stating, “universal experience” and “relatable” therefore I applied his thoughts into a broader perspective as it connects to my own personal life and the lives of many others in the world. Another aspect of my annotation in Carr’s piece that I would like to point out is when I didn’t fully grasp what a paragraph was saying I made my difficulty to understand very clear by inputting a “?” in the margins. This is a strategy that allows me to pinpoint where his ideas were fuzzy to me, leading me to go back and reread and dive deeper into his context to eventually reach the point of full comprehension. By making these moves when reading it allowed me to draw relationships to the concepts within the text to real life situations or even other authors ideas in order to fully see the effects of technology. As for someone who doesn’t enjoy reading, this task challenged me dedicate my full attention to deeply engage with ideas. Although, I was able to overcome this challenge and as a result I learned the value of critical reading in terms of its influence of how to understand texts on a deeper level as it provides me with a new outlook on authors ideas.

Journal #5:

Looking deeper within the Turkle text I found lots of valuable ideas and information. During class we discussed some points in “The Empathy Diaries”, however there were two insightful concepts that stood out to me that were not mentioned. The first was on the 3rd full paragraph on page 348 that referenced this idea of being alone in various situations and how we seek our phone for comfort. I found this interesting because I believe this to be true, since many people have been exposed to technology especially at a young age,which leads us to be so accustomed to referring to our phones to fill the void of boredom. Nowadays it is very common to see people on their phones rather than just standing there with only their thoughts. I connected this to my own life because I am guilty of doing this in my own life. For instance, when I’m waiting for class to start or waiting in line at a store I won’t hesitate to go on my phone because I feel the need to look busy doing something and that is the only thing that seems reasonable. Furthermore, I feel awkward and bored when I am just standing or sitting with only my thoughts to keep me company. Therefore, it appears that when individuals are faced with being alone with their thoughts it is discomforting due to us always wanting to be connected, encouraging us to go on our phones to erase this lonely feeling.
The second idea that struck me was contained in the first full paragraph on page 351. This piece of text mentioned how certain people shy away from face-to-face conversation and are insecure about expressing their thoughts. I found this important and agreeable due to technology being a prime source of communication taking away from our ability to communicate in person effectively. Furthermore, we depend on technology through emails, texts, and phone calls. We seem to have lost social skills when it comes to human interaction based on finding it easy to address someone online. This connects to my own life because I believe my fear of public speaking may have stemmed from using technology. I relate to this because I get nervous and tend to not feel comfortable speaking in social settings. With this being said technology may be to blame for this, since I have become dependent on it and find it an easier source to communicate through. With this being said, Turkle’s text expressed many valuable ideas on technology and its impact on us. More specifically its effect on our social abilities and our desire for connection.

Journal #9:

When reading the text “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr he addressed very valuable points revolving around the internet and its influence on our cognitive abilities. The first section that seemed important to me was on the 2nd page and was within the second paragraph, which stated, “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” I agree with the statement as it appears that technology causes us to have a lack of focus when it comes to reading books as we can simply find the answer more quickly when searching online, but it also trains us to try and take in more information more easily. This is true based on how we rely on the internet, especially Google which is a very intelligent resource filled with lots of answers. Thus, when we seek the internet as it provides the direct information we are looking for, we begin to get comfortable with this fast-paced transfer of information that encourages ourselves to keep up and obtain the information in this timely manner as well. Therefore, the internet demonstrates a quick accessible pattern when it comes to relaying information, leading individuals to work in this way of fast movement from the new information that is being received.
The second passage that stood out to me as important was on page 3 and was contained in the second paragraph as it mentioned, “When we read online, she says, we tend to become ‘mere decoders of information.’ Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” This is something that I agree with, as it does seem that the presence of the internet drives us away from building useful deep-thinking skills. Since the internet emphasizes instant efficiency, it influences us to want to find the answers in as little time as possible when it comes to other texts. With this being said we would rather not take the time to dive deep but instead just skim through it hoping to pick up on the concepts we intend to find. This leads us to revert to a quick and easy method of reading, that is not allowing us to practice on deeper thinking skills. We tend to analyze or really gain all the information within the text in order to determine the messages being conveyed, causing our brain’s to be lazy in a way as our brain’s lack the ability to stay engaged and practice interpretation.
The third and final passage that I found to be important was on the last paragraph on the last page (page 8) as the sequence of sentences suggests, “In the world of 2001, people have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine. That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy: as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” This poses the idea that humans are competing to try and be like the internet, which is something that I strongly agree with. According to how humans nowadays are heavily reliant on technology, we rely on it to do the hard work of understanding the content for us then providing us answers. This in return creates a new method to gaining information. We simply act just like the internet attempting to generate or find the answers in the easiest and less time-consuming ways in other contexts we read such as books or articles. Therefore, as we try to train our brains to match the internet, we ultimately lose our actual human-like qualities such as deep thinking. Since technology is being used for almost everything, we then miss out on the opportunities to build our knowledge using other sources that may actually contribute to building our cognitive capabilities, rather than discouraging it.