"An Ugly Toll of Technology: Impatience and Forgetfulness"

Summary
The article “An Ugly Toll of Technology: Impatience and Forgetfulness” by Tara Parker-Pope describes how technology warps the mind of the person using it. Although technology may be helpful in many cases, it can also be misused in many ways, which can lead to addiction. Many who suffer from this may feel that there internet relationships are more important than their reality. They often find themselves trying to fast forward real life situations before realizing they have a problem. People also seem to be unable to detach themselves from many older memories, and this is bad because it makes it more difficult to retain new ones. This makes it hard to be sociable with one's family and friends off the internet.


Reflection
This article focuses on the negative effects of technology on a person's mind. People who are often checking their e-mails, going on Facebook, and shopping online seem to neglect their duties in the real world. I completely agree with this argument the article presents. Children feel like they are often being ignored by their elders, who are too consumed with their cell phones, computers, and other internet resources. Families spend less time bonding with one another. Even at the dinner table, you will see paretns and children answering their cell phones and checking their Facebooks on their blackberry. When someone's cell phone dies, they seem to become flustered. The internet is also distracting during work hours. Adults agree to shopping online while working, as well as spending time in chat rooms and paying their bills. Schools all have a "no cell- phone" policy, because their students are too distracted with all that technology has to offer. Even when you try to hang out with a friend, they are constantly preoccupied talking to other friends with some form of technology. Technology has made it harder to reatin friendships in the real world.


Tie-In
Nicholas Carr's article describes the effects of excessive internet use on the human mind. He states that he notices his own personality has changed a bit since he started using technology. For instance, he began skimming through articles rather than actually sitting down and enjoying a good book once in a while. It has become rather difficult for people to read novels or even text messages that are longer than one hundred and fourty characters. This can greatly affect one's school studies when they are trying to research a topic. Tara Parker-Pope's article shows that too much internet use can lead to addiction. She proves that technology may begin to interfere with a person's daily life, this including their work, schooling, and social time. She discusses how the average student can procrastinate while doing their work for hours just sitting on Facebook. However, there are many sites that one may use to procrastinate, such as Stumbleupon, Twitter, and Tumblr. What it comes down to is although technology may be very useful in connecting with old friends, relaying information, and retrieving information, it also makes it very difficult for a person to know how to act in real life situations. Technology is remolding our minds and our personalities, and this proves that we have become dependent on it.