Reclaiming Conversation Part 1
Take a minute, step back, and think about how much conversations have changed over the past two decades. In the 90's we passed notes folded into perfect little triangles, we talked on walkie talkies, phones with cords, and we knew how to talk face-to-face with each other. In the 2000's things began to change. Millenials, like myself, were spending hours on instant messaging platforms (we would spend hours trying to get the perfect away message,) social media was starting to take off, and texting became our preferred method of conversation over talking on the phone or face-to-face. Things changed even more in 2007 with the invention of the iPhone. This gave us connectivity with everything with the swipe of your finger.
As with a lot of things, with every pro of the smart phones comes cons. While the technological affordances with smart phones are vast, Sherry Turkle, a psychologist at MIT and author of "Reclaiming Conversation" would argue that we are losing one the most human characteristics there is -- how to have conversations. Turkle describes several "flights from conversations" that exist these days; mostly because it is easier to send a text or email. These flights from conversations, which are diversions from actual conversion as we turn toward our devices, are occuring everywhere--dinner table, dates, even significant events like break-ups are happening via text. The result, Turkle says humans are losing empathy. It's easy to say cruel things and for things like cyber bullying to occur behind a screen when you can't see someone else's reaction.
But, there's hope according to Turkle. She mentions a group of college students who have a rule called "the rule of three." With this rule, you wait for three people to have their heads up before you look down at your phone. Things like the rule of three which try to encourage conversation and acknowledging that we have become a society addicted to devices is the first step. Turkle also mentions how several big Silicon Valley techies will not allow their children to get phones, how many companies are insisting their employees take a night away from their devices each week, and she also mentions camps where children are not allowed to have phone...this, in turn, forces more conversation.
So, in the first half of the book, traditional conversation is becoming an endangered specie as we become increasingly glued to our devices. Devices make quick, distracted communication easier. We are able to talk with multiple people while checking Instagram, and posting a filtered selfie on Snapchat. But with that, humans are losing a big part of being human--the ability to talk and really understand each other.
As with a lot of things, with every pro of the smart phones comes cons. While the technological affordances with smart phones are vast, Sherry Turkle, a psychologist at MIT and author of "Reclaiming Conversation" would argue that we are losing one the most human characteristics there is -- how to have conversations. Turkle describes several "flights from conversations" that exist these days; mostly because it is easier to send a text or email. These flights from conversations, which are diversions from actual conversion as we turn toward our devices, are occuring everywhere--dinner table, dates, even significant events like break-ups are happening via text. The result, Turkle says humans are losing empathy. It's easy to say cruel things and for things like cyber bullying to occur behind a screen when you can't see someone else's reaction.
But, there's hope according to Turkle. She mentions a group of college students who have a rule called "the rule of three." With this rule, you wait for three people to have their heads up before you look down at your phone. Things like the rule of three which try to encourage conversation and acknowledging that we have become a society addicted to devices is the first step. Turkle also mentions how several big Silicon Valley techies will not allow their children to get phones, how many companies are insisting their employees take a night away from their devices each week, and she also mentions camps where children are not allowed to have phone...this, in turn, forces more conversation.
So, in the first half of the book, traditional conversation is becoming an endangered specie as we become increasingly glued to our devices. Devices make quick, distracted communication easier. We are able to talk with multiple people while checking Instagram, and posting a filtered selfie on Snapchat. But with that, humans are losing a big part of being human--the ability to talk and really understand each other.
I am very interested in this blog, Jared. I am a Theatre Arts teacher and for our fall show, we are creating a play about some of the issues you bring up.
ReplyDeleteI am fourth grade teacher and love your blog. Students in my classroom have a difficult time paying attention in class, need constant boundaries with everything in the classroom, and learning to communicate and play at recess successfully. There is always the group of students who toggle back and forth between a video game, music, or other website with the platform they should be working on in class. What does a teacher do about this? Set more boundaries that aren't always followed. I like using old school ways in my classroom such as using the overhead project to teach games in math and lessons in other subject ares like writing strategies. Also, teaching them how to jump rope using a long rope and two turners at each end, and one jumper in the middle. This is always a hit at recess and students learn how to do something fun at recess that helps with exercise. At the beginning of the year I read them jump rope rhymes and chants from a little book that my daughter received as a birthday present years ago! The line at jump rope has become so long that we have started two jumping stations at recess.
ReplyDelete"Traditional conversation is becoming an endangered specie as we become increasingly glued to our devices. Devices make quick, distracted communication easier. ...humans are losing a big part of being human--the ability to talk and really understand each other."
ReplyDeleteI was having a conversation about this with a friend. Vocabularies are diminishing. The ability to use words (beyond 4 letter ones) that are truly expressive and meaningful seems non-existent. I love Betsy's idea of jumping rope. How can I apply it to my high school math? :-)