John Lonetree
Prof. Schmeling
Sept. 19, 2012
Journal 1 - Reflection on Disconnected
The
documentary Disconnected has a very impacting effect on college teens around
our generation. Disconnecting just a
computer really causes a huge chain of events that could change our live for
the worse, and the better. In a modern
day college setting, even a business setting, electronics are part of the
everyday life. This dependence makes
these electronics become a part of us, we can’t “live” without these
electronics. Everything is so digital in
modern life and no one can complete a task without using a computer, easily
anyway.
Computers
and electronics are similar to drugs; they’re getting people hooked to the
point that people cannot live without them.
It’s really not the electronics or the people who have the computers,
but the system of business, and schooling in general. People could secede from the digital world
with no physical danger, but emotional, and every other part of life, it would
damage their lives substantially. We
need computers because everything is wired together; communication requires
different forms of electronics, same with email, and other sources of fast,
easy communication.
Electronics
determine job eligibility for the future, in a digital age this is
obvious. Most businesses and schools
force the use of computers; communication, and easy accessibility are very
important for expansive organizations and businesses. Delving deeper, as children we’ve been
exposed to computers and other electronics.
Development of most technological advances started with computers, so
why wouldn’t a job or school want one to know how to use a computer.
Avoiding
computers is very difficult and that goes for everything electronic. Electronic devices are everywhere; one cannot
avoid the mere exposure of electronics.
The college teens in the documentary were always exposed to computers on
the campus. This caused anxiety, and
stress because an easier, and faster way of getting works done is
available. If a place were just about all-digital,
I’d be stressed about the absence of a computer especially when others are
using them.
The people
in the movie developed dependence for their computers. In one of the scenes I recognized that
everyone was looking for an escape from the thought of their computers. The computer to them was an instrument of
escape from the world. This becomes
difficult when an item used for stress relief is taken from you and used
against you. Other forms of escape are
needed and they need to be similar to the last form. The girl went for her cellular device while
the two guys seemed to go to the student center and play the arcade
machines. This proves that electronics
are a part of our generation and lives.
This
interdependence of people and electronics seems to cause certain troubles for
people. People, from children to adults,
avoid each other like the plague sometimes.
This is problematic because we need communicators who could communicate
by talking, not digitally all the time.
People are spending less time outside, and more time worrying about
their next email, or text. In the film
their was a quote, “It’s depressing to see people always waiting for their next
email, or update.” –The Dean.
