Article Summary: Stop Googling. Let’s talk.
Introduction
A conversation between individuals required adequate usage of emotions, expressions, empathy, communication, articulation of thoughts, and focus over the fundamental context of conversation. All these aspects define the art of communication and effective conversation via human traits. Author Sherry Turkle, in this article, Stop Googling. Let’s talk speaks about the hampering effect of technology when it intervenes in the course of a normal conversation between individuals and causes a diversion of the attention. Hence, a mere presence of technology like internet can disrupt the core nuances (discussed above) of effective conversation between humans. This realization forms the rationale behind the thesis statement for this essay.
This essay tends to unravel why and how the intervention and dominance of technology amongst normal conversation is actually eroding the human values associated with conversation and we humans are getting victimized by our inventions like Internet, cell-phones, virtual world, etc.
Turkle has explained the relevance of empathetic value in this article and he has laid stress that we humans are more involved in the emotional and real time feeling oriented aspects of any conversation when we empathize with others. He also put a point that usage of technology during conversation often tends to destroy the empathy value of a conversation due to diverted attentions of individuals. Thus, individuals who use cell-phone during normal conversation have lesser participation as their attention is partly diverted into the virtual world which they included in normal circumstances (Turkle,1).
This notion presents the potential threat of multitasking, which is generally considered as an act of achievement amongst modern day individuals. Multitasking can be literally defined as getting involved in various tasks at same time and it definitely improves the work efficiency with respect to time consumed. However, if this multitasking for any individual involves a fusion of normal conversation and internet surfing on cell-phone, there can be a complete debacle in terms of his true participation into the conversation. The diversion of focus can ruin the core value of human participation into any general conversation.
Any conversation can be effectively conducted by applying the basic rules of communication and an effective communication involves a triad of process like listening, analyzing, and speaking, generally sequenced in same order. Effective listening involves complete focus over the verbal reception and any involvement into some other point of attention (like browsing through internet) acts as a distraction. Hence, it can be concluded that usage of technology during normal conversation leads to a disruption in the listening and analyzing aspects of communication.
Relevance of solitude in conversation and impact of technology over it
Turkle has explained the relevance of solitude in terms of a self speculation mode in which an individual listens to his true self and imagines at all possible extent. These factors tend to shape the bodyline of an effective conversation and all of them are mere derivatives of solitude. However, the presence of technology not only interferes into the crude individualism of solitude, but it also provides with an option of virtually participating in any other communication happening over internet (Turkle,1). Thus, the core gains from solitude get disrupted due to technology’s presence with him.
Normally, the best articulation comes in verbal communication when a person follows complete sequence of communication where he listens, thinks, organizes, innovates, and delivers his stand over the chosen topic of conversation. Efficient communicators have a habit of deploying all the above processes during a specific communication and result in delivering empathetic conversations. On the other hand, beginners need to arrange some alone time for analyzing the various acquired aspects and then imagining the possible ways to express themselves over the topic. This expression of solitude renders the self realization and optimization time for an individual which shapes his part in the conversation.
It is an extremely lucid fact that an individual involved in using internet over cell-phone tends to lose his personal space in speculating the true essence of his thoughts for his part in the communication. Definitely, in absence of any involvement in usage of internet over this phase can result in better self assessment and would prevent the hampering effect of technology over normal conversation.
Conclusion
The essence of the above-discussed ideas regarding involvement of technology over conversation can be concluded that technology actually intervenes in the process of conversation like a third party and distracts the attention towards itself. Therefore, to avoid technology usurping over human aspects of conversation it is very important that people should take conversation to be a single task so that their human aspects of empathy remain affirm. The nutshell of this idea can be stated as ‘Uni-tasking is the best mantra’ for keeping up with the humane aspects of conversation and for not letting technology dominate over core attributes of human beings.
Works Cited
Turkle, Sherry. " Stop Googling. Let’s talk ".2015. Feb 09. 2016.
