Original Directions:
Our world is growing increasingly connected and digital. Information is everywhere- from our phones, to computers, to televisions. Whether we realize it or not, these devices affect how we behave and what our brains need and want. If asked to do it, do you think you could sit in a room alone with no digital devices, with only your thoughts to keep you company? Researchers asked the same question and when put to the test, got some surprising results. Click the link below to read an article detailing what they found- the results may “shock” you!
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/07/03/328137640/surrounded-by-digital-distractions-we-cant-even-stop-to-think
Use information from the article to answer the following questions. Remember to include information from the article in your answer. Refer to the sentence starters below to help you along. You should cite the article at least once in your response. Don’t just pull out a random phrase or sentence- make sure it supports what you are saying.
Citing Evidence Sentence Starters:
-In the article it said…
-I read that…
-The author mentions that…
-Something that supports my point is….
Answer all 3 questions.
- Why do you think people chose to receive an electric shock, rather than sitting still and just thinking?
- Is it important for people to be able to “unplug” and go for lengths of time without digital devices? Why or why not? What are some of the pros and cons of “unplugging”?
- Do you think you could go longer than the test subjects without digital devices? Why or why not?
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My response to this question:
Click for my Response!
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Reflection Response:
For this assignment, you had to state your opinion on the general topic of the importance of “unplugging”. You also has to say why people would’ve chosen to be shocked, and if you thought you could’ve lasted longer than the test subjects. For the most part, I thought that people would’ve preferred to be shocked because they felt such a craving to use an electronic contraption that they’d shock themselves to get even the slightest taste of entertainment. I thought it was extremely important to “unplug”, mostly because there is so much else you can do in this world that you’re missing out on because you chose to sit around on your electronics all day! Also, people need to learn how to hold a real conversation, because texting doesn’t count! Through texting, there isn’t any emotion, any feeling, and often times people will misinterpret what you’re trying to tell them because of the lack of emotion. I thought that I would’ve been able to last longer than the test subjects, because you could sing in your head or have conversations in your head, and it isn’t really as difficult as people would think. I also thought I’d be able to last longer because I’d gone most of my life without access to electronic devices. I think that my strengths in this assignment were mostly with how thoroughly I answered the questions, but also with how my response describes the issues with our society and its obsession for distractions, especially electronic ones. If I were to redo this assignment, I would probably emphasize some of my points a little more, mostly because I really didn’t stress some of the issues well enough. I chose to feature this participation activity on my blog because I personally thought it was the best participation activity out of the ones I completed for first quarter.