Basic Composition NE
Essay 2 Final Draft #Gopnik & De Botton Feb.18th. 2016
The Tension between the Individual and the Other:
New Technological Possibilities
People have always found a great disconnect in the heart of the human experience. This may be conceptualized in many different ways, and has had various solutions throughout the centuries. Human nature leads people to have the need to find a place in the universe, and relating to others has always been an interesting and tempting way to solve this problem. Nevertheless, this is also problematic, as the relationships between people are not always pleasant. In fact, one could characterize them as intrinsically flawed because people are inherently different. This leads to a divide between the two parties that is not always easy to solve; most of the time, it is actually very difficult, and other orthopedic instruments must be tried. One of these instruments is human imagination, which has long been the way people fantasize in order to withstand the link to others, something that is majestically shown in Jeanette Winterson’s “The World and Other Places”. On the other hand, Sherry Turkle’s “Alone Together” shows that, even though imagination plays a significant role in this, modernity has brought other ways to supplement this lack of a complete connection between people: technology, in all its virtues and vices. All of this is a result of people, by nature, constantly seeking to relate to one another in whatever way possible. If not, they would not go through all the trouble that relating to another person implies. Due to the inherent differences between individuals, dissemblance is an inevitable component of the human experience, yet that may be mended in different ways, especially through the use of imagination and technology, in order to connect to others, something that is also unchangeable.
First, one can find a great divide between people when they attempt to form a relationship, mainly due to the differences that the two people have, as all humans are not the same. Winterson mainly presents this in terms of implacable solitude, a feeling of loneliness that does not even fade when in the presence of others. Turkle theorizes that this is because the horror of intimacy is the source of this problem, or, at least, what hinders it from being solved. "We are lonely but fearful of intimacy” (Turkle 263). Even though a person is alone, he or she does not take the steps to make the situation better because he or she is afraid of being in a relationship as well. One of the most striking of these episodes happens when the protagonist goes into the room of a shabby hotel. “In the darkness and the silence I can hear, far below, the matter of life continuing without me” (Winterson 285). In this episode he sees that there are other lives outside of his, and that the world continues when he is asleep. He sees that there is a greater world out there than what he imagined. Turkle even tries to justify the individualization by stating, "if we are always on, we may deny ourselves the rewards of solitude” (265). For this author, technology and the social media have attempted to form a world where one is always connected to other people. Nevertheless, he finds that this is a bad thing, and that one should learn to appreciate one’s loneliness as well. The experiences in “The World and Other places also show how a person can be accompanied, yet alone at the same time. The first great reference is when the pilot, in the beginning of the romantic twist of the story, says, “It was a solo experience even when there were two of you” (Winterson 286). By individualizing the scene, he effectively breaks up a pair into two lonely people.
Similarly, the narrator tells the story of how the idealized toys of his colleagues grouped them all together, even though they were in silence. Winterson, talking about the Air Force pilots at night in their quarters, writes, “each of us in our bunks at lights-out would be thinking of model aeroplanes and the things from home we couldn’t talk about anymore”. It is interesting to see how what cannot be said is what unites them all. In a sense, they form a group, as they are all thinking about the same thing and not talking at all; on the other hand, they are all individually immersed in their world, and cannot be united at all. Therefore, one can see the stories teetering between individualism and groups, showing one of the more complicated dimensions of the human experience. Nevertheless, it is not enough to know that people will not always see eye to eye with each other; one also needs to think about how people attempt to solve this gap. The main way that people have done this throughout the decades is through imagination. This is obviously most prevalent in Jeanette Winterson’s “The World and Other Places”. In this story, she presents a family with a low socioeconomic situation, whose children frequently imagine that they are flying all around the world. This is a family tradition that attempts to establish a link between them through imagination, sending them to a world much happier and desirable than the one they live in. As the small amount of money they have does not give them the means to go out frequently and spend time with each other, they resort to doing so together, yet in their minds’ eyes. However, it is important to note that sometimes they go to different places, representing the idea that imagination can also be alienating and lead to even more individualization. “At the end of my story, my family and I swopped anecdotes and exchanged souvenirs” (Winterson 285). The collective imagination of this family allows a solution to the tension between being alone and being together: they all go on a trip together to different places and come back to share what they have experienced. Something similar happens with technology, especially those devices designed to connect people, something obviously paradoxical as it is not really a connection to another person, but to an object. "Our networked life allows us to hide from each other, even as we are tethered to each other” (Turkle 263). Another important way that gadgets have modified human relationships is that they may be so personalized that they virtually know the most personal details of many. "Technology proposes itself as the architect of our intimacies” (Turkle 263). As electronic devices become more human-like, some people are actually starting to prefer them to actual intimacy. This is not something completely new, as imagination has always been a way to look for care and devotion elsewhere. Nevertheless, these new objects offer a special kind of affection and memory that would even be difficult to find in humans. This means that humans are being changed "as technology offers us substitutes for connecting with each other face-to-face” (Turkle 272). As one can see, there are many different ways to mend the dissemblance between people, from imagination to technology.
However, there would be no reason to go through all of this trouble if there were not something essential about relating to another person that is necessary for a human to function correctly. Even though these stories talk constantly about a certain disconnection between people, they also show the sweetness and significance of having a link to other people. Even though Winterson’s experience seems to be a tale of one, from the beginning he is including other people in his tale. As stated above, his family forms a very important part of his narrative, being part of the reason why he decides to aim his life in the field of aeronautics. He refers to other people throughout his whole tale, even though the main story is about finding out who he is. This may be because, to a certain extent, personal identity actually comes from others. Winterson writes, “I was waiting to be invented. I was waiting to invent myself” (286). Here, one can see that the invention of the self is something reflexive, which may come after the experience of relating to others. One could even say that the condition for the discovery of the self is the link to other people. For example, the three stories that he tells alleging that they change his life forever are about relationships with other people, who teach him about a certain aspect of life. He even approaches the problem of not being himself through the lens of others. He comments being treated the same as before, and looking to authorities in the medical, psychological, philosophical and psychoanalytical fields. As one can see, this connection can come from any place that can represent a human. This poses a new problem with the advent of technology, which has led people to blur the lines between the real and the artificial. "I believe that in our culture of simulation, the notion of authenticity is for us what sex was for the Victorians--threat and obsession, taboo and fascination” (Turkle 266). An authentic relationship would thus be something seen as out of this world, extraordinary, and even suspicious. People all around the world are starting to prefer the solidity and reliability that a machine can provide, instead of the problems that the divide with other human beings may bring. This is especially true of the younger generations. Turkle relates an experience where, "A ten-year-old girl told me that she would prefer a robot turtle because aliveness comes with aesthetic inconvenience” (265). As one can see, in a certain sense, the artificial has become the norm, leaving natural truth on the side. Nevertheless, one can still see a reaching out for some type of connection, with many of the same traits that a human would have. This is obviously something very interesting that still needs to be studied and observed in the future.
In conclusion, the dissemblance that people feel due to their belief in individuality can be amended in many ways, including imagination and technology, yet there is still an inevitable push to establish some type of connection. Even though there are some people that find value in solitude, it is also important to note that this can be very despairing, a way to dismiss the importance of other people in one’s life, leading to sadness and anxiety. The relationship between an individual and a group is very complex, and they are inextricably tied to one another. Nevertheless, these problems may be somewhat fixed through imagination and, more recently, technology, which has even developed the ability to care. This new facet of the human experience is another way to fill the necessity for some type of connection. As one can see, technology may be very new, but it is only another stand-in in the logic of the human experience and one’s relation to others.
Sources
Turkle, Shelly. “Alone Together”. Points of Departure: A Collection of Contemporary Essays. Ed. Michelle J. Brazier. Ohio: Cenage Learning, 2011. 263-282. Print.
Winterson, Jeanette. “The World and Other Places”. Points of Departure: A Collection of Contemporary Essays. Ed. Michelle J. Brazier. Ohio: Cenage Learning, 2011. 283-292. Print.
