Technology has allowed society an escape from the real world. Throughout the years, advancements in technology have gotten better and better with every new iPhone or iPad. Most people nowadays are always on their phone, whether they’re texting their family or sending a Snapchat to a friend, or even walking into someone while doing so. This idea of people being unobservant to the world around them is introduced by Sherry Turkle in her essay “The Empathy Diaries.” Sherry Turkle is a well-known researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and she establishes the argument that technology has driven people to converse less in person, which ultimately causes people to be less empathetic to one another. I have witnessed the advancement of technology as I have grown older and how it continues to lure in more people as an escape to feel emotions in the real world. The societal pressures of technology on to the younger generation has caused a lack of conversation and empathy, while society continues to ignore the damage it has done. 

            Growing up these days is different than what the older generations experienced, and this can be explained through the access to technology. Children can easily ask their parents for the newest iPhone, and it is considered “normal.” This early attraction to screens has caused this younger generation to resort to talking to people online rather than in person. Whenever I babysit kids and they see my phone, I am unable to pursue a conversation for another hour because all they want to do is play games. As these kids grow up, they continue to rely on phones and exploring the internet and finding ways to avoid interacting with the real world. Turkle makes the point that

Many of the things we all struggle with in love and work can be helped by conversation. Without conversation, studies show that we are less empathetic, less connected, less creative and fulfilled. We are diminished, in retreat. But to generations that grew up using their phones to text and message, these studies may be describing losses they don’t feel. They didn’t grow up with a lot of face-to-face talk (350).

Older generations have lived many more years than the kids of this generation, and they often find it hard to hold conversations with them. Turkle points out that because children have access to technology, they do not view it as a negative, rather they want to learn more. I was raised in a household with very few electronic devices laying around, so I respected the idea of having true conversations and listening to what other people have to say. Whenever I converse with an adult, they always compliment my ability to listen and hold eye contact, and it is sad that most people cannot do that nowadays. The lack of in person conversation that occurs in today’s world continues to be unspoken about, but sending a quick text will fix everything, right?

            Have you ever had someone run into you while they were looking at their phone and not even apologize for their actions, or watch as a three-year-old has a meltdown at the local grocery store because he was not allowed to watch his favorite show? Phones allow people to feel more connected to the world without having to ever look away from their screen. However, the real world includes having in-person conversations without the use of our phones, but rarely can someone hold a conversation without having to check their phone. Most people do not see this as a problem, but the people that do are too scared to speak up about the dangers of technology due to the influence it has on our everyday lives. Sherry Turkle mentions,

But these conversations require time and space, and we say we’re too busy. Distracted at our dinner tables and livings rooms, at our business meetings, and on our streets, we find traces of a new “silent spring” – a term Rachel Carson coined when we were ready to see that with technological change had come an assault on our environment. Now, we have arrived at another moment of recognition. This time, technology is implicated in an assault on empathy. We have learned that even a silent phone inhibits conversations that matter. The very sight of a phone on the landscape leaves us feeling less connected to each other, less invested in each other (344).

As a result of avoiding this difficult subject, people, especially the younger generation, are becoming less empathetic for one another. The term “connection” can mean one thing for some and a different for others. One can be connected while scrolling through social media, while another can be engaged in a conversation, until a notification pops up and they lose their train of thought. The inability to disconnect has been pushed on to those younger than myself because if they put their phone down, then they are told they will be unable to connect with those around them. Even though conversing with others is essential during our critical period in our lives, children and teenagers have been taught to avoid their problems by hiding behind a screen. The connection that the younger generation has to their devices has result in them being unable to form in-person conversations, ultimately having a direct impact on the empathy they have for others.