Part Two of Sherry Turkle's book Alone Together begins by talking about a "cyborg" group at MIT that put digital displays in their eyeglasses to simultaneously live in the virtual and physical. This occurrence makes me wonder how far humans will go into becoming one with technology?
In human's recent history, technology has been frequently used to better or enhance the human experience. For example, prosthetics have been created which allow people who lost limbs to attach robotic limbs making daily activities easier for them. Also, artificial organs are being produced and are starting to be incorporated into medical practices, but they are not used widespread yet. It is common for technology to have malfunctions so it does not seem wise to be connecting these foreign objects to our body systems. If the technology did malfunction its host could lose control of the technological part causing harm to him or others.
Also, humans are becoming connected to technology without it being directly attached to their body. Virtual Reality headsets and remotes are being used in gaming in order to transport users into a different world. As engineers and scientists continue to develop virtual reality technology, humans may start to be put at risk because the developers may end up putting users into a virtual world which they do not know how the bring the user out of without the user's help. This situation could end up trapping humans in a world they do not understand. Some gamers like Adam, from Chapter eleven of Alone Together, are becoming attached to video games which they could technically quit playing through free will. However, when Adam stops playing his video games the disappointments of his life hit him making him want to go back to the game since that's the place he could forget about his purpose in the real world. Also, several times throughout part two of Turkle's book she talks about how humans would rather text and instant message than talk face to face or on the phone. Humans do not like face to face conversations or phone calls because it does not give them time to think about what to say and they do not have the option of not responding without seeming rude. If humans continue to be attached to technology human interaction will decrease until its gone and the only interaction is with technology.
-Mark Young
I agree with your statement, real human interaction is basically pixelating. Our world is becoming individual anti-social bubbles. I understand that people enjoy texting because it does give them time to think, but what they usually think about is how to grab attention from others. Whether it is full of lies or not, everyone does so through text nowadays. Whats sad is it makes many anti-social and some lack on their vocabulary and spelling skills. I don't text often, but when I do it is usually when I ask my friends if they're busy and want to call, hangout, or send me an address or You Tube link. The only social media I have is Instagram and I use it to promote my art, show the adventures I go on. If I really need a hold of someone, I don't post, I go to them. It is fine to text and post but be aware of what you're doing, being the center of attention doesn't make you cool. What does make you cool is having a voice, being friendly face to face to everyone, not being dramatic or selfish.
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