Attached to Technology and Paying a Price

Matt Richtel wrote about the affects that technology is taking on people today. He uses Mr.Campbell as his main example. Mr.Campbell is obsessed with technology. The fact that he has a hard time putting his electronics down on vacation is disturbing. Vacations are a time for relaxation, and freedom from the "real world," and it is sad that he cannot appreciate this time. At home he is never fully engaged, and uses his computer and games as an escape. This is paying a toll on his family life. Mr.Campbell's 16-year-old son is also seeing the consequences of technology overdose. He is now getting C's in school. He needs to learn the right balance.

I found the multitasking test's results surprising. People who were classified to be heavy multitaskers did worse at filtering out irrelevant information during the test. The multitaskers were slower at every aspect of the test.

Technology is messing with our priorities. We no longer clearly have our priorities straight. People who stop what they are doing to check an email or text are more stressed than the people who are focused. According to the article stress hormones affect your short term memory.

Mr.Campbell is right, he said in this era, we are able to multitask any time and any place. This is a drastic change from the past. We are also more drawn into our distractions, such as checking our email or updating our twitter status. While trying to focus on homework or our current conversation we are constantly being drawn to check our phones. I think that this is not only making us less attentive, but we are also becoming rude. We can no longer even complete projects because our minds are so scattered.

Being a part of the technological generation, I feel like I see the affect that technology has on people everyday. I try not to go on more than one site at a time when doing homework. When I'm having a conversation I try not to constantly look at my phone. I do not want to be sucked into a life of fragmented thought and relationships.