Technology surrounds us. Everywhere we look, there is technology, no matter the form in which it presents itself, it is there. Thus, the question regarding technology is no longer ‘has technology affected us’ because that point is inarguable, it has. Rather the question now is, ‘how has this effect changed our human experience and what perspective do we as individuals have on this change’. Touching on this point is the writings of both Nicholas Carr and Sherry Turkle who wrote essays regarding technology and its consequent effects on human experience.  Carr, who wrote “Is Google Making Us Stupid” concentrates his writing primarily on technological changes to attention span and humans’ ability to think deeply, whereas Turkle writes of empathy and increasingly shallow relationships as a consequence of technology in her essay “The Empathy Diaries”. Regardless of the specifics that each author wrote of, both touched on the common idea of human experience, and how is has shifted as digital technology has increased. Regarding my own opinion, I have clearly seen the effects of technology on human experience, yet also offer the perspective that this shift in human experience may not be inherently bad, but rather just different. Consequently, it is apparently clear that digital technology has affected human experience, yet the specifics and perspectives on this effect differ between each author.  

Regarding the specifics of human experience, technology has changed concentration, that point is clear, yet the degree to which, and how this is affecting us is where some differences may occur. To Carr, this change in concentration is seen most clearly in terms of reading, stating that “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle” (Carr, 1). It is Carrs belief that technology has had a direct effect on our ability to read, changing the human experience and causing in inability to read deeply and thoroughly understand the subsequent content. He goes on to write of how this inability to read deeply is causing a new type of reading, one that involves skimmer rather than fully engaging and understanding texts. Though Turkle does not touch on subject of concentration in the same specifics as Carr, she writes instead from the angle of boredom. According to Turkle, “we often find ourselves bored because we have become accustomed to a constant feed of connection” and “we pay attention to what interests us and then when it doesn’t, we look to our devices to find something that does.” (Turkle, 344). By this, Turkle is arguing that due to an increased use of technology, our ability to concentrate has diminished. As a result, we quickly loose interest, and as a result have an increased feeling of boredom.  For me, my perspective both differs as well as aligns with that of Carr and Turkle. While I can agree with the apparent shift in concentration that has decreased along with the rise of technology, I can also see benefits that have occurred because of this. While I agree with what Carr wrote about a “new type of writing”, I see benefit in the ability to skim, rather than always read deeply. By skimming, we can pick out the pieces of information and are important and then if needed, read further on said information. This allow readers to save time, prevents them from getting burned out while reading, and focuses attention on what is truly important. Consequently, my opinion aligns with that of Carr and Turkle in that I too have seen a shift in concentration as technology has increased, yet it differs in my opinion on the negatively of this shift. Instead, I am of the belief that this shift in concentration is not to the detriment of society, but instead is simply a change in the human experience, making us not worse, but rather different than those of the past.             

Furthermore, not only has the rise in technology changed a shift in modern educational abilities, but according to both Turkle and Carr, it has also caused a shift in our personalities. Specifically, these authors touch on the idea technology has caused a shift in quality and complexity of personalities, resulting in somewhat “lacking”, “dull”, and “flat” personalities of those today. In Turkle’s writing, she touches on this idea in terms of empathy specially, stating that children are “not developing empathy in the way that years of teaching suggest they would”. Essentially, due to an increase of technology not only in the classroom, but in all aspects of day-to-day life, children are struggling the develop empathy in the way that they should. This is due to a lack face to face conversation and understanding which is thus causing children to not know how to listen or to learn how to look at and understand others. This lack of empathy is a huge component missing from the personalities of children today, and consequently results in a vast gap in emotional understanding and capability. 

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