1. Has an over-exposure to technology created a disconnect in our ability to communicate with each other?
2. My question comes from the fact that I experienced a decline in my ability to communicate effectively during the pandemic. Misunderstandings rose and repercussions that shouldn’t have happened in person happened. Due to my experiences and situation, I am interested in this topic due to its modern application and the nuances surrounding it.
3. Considering this topic is rather new and modern, I can see it being predominantly covered in online spaces such as articles and YouTube.
4. My target audience will be adults interested in mental health and technology.
5. This will be a research paper.
6. By analyzing sources and deriving their findings, it will be able to come to the best possible conclusion, which makes the research paper the best form.
7. I’m trying to show the audience the dangers, or benefits, from this new age technology and how to navigate using it depending on how it affects communication.

The two artworks I chose come from section 202 “In the Shadow of the American Dream” on the second floor. The artworks presented in this area come from the 1980s in America, often specifically in New York, to showcase the gripes artists had as during this time the landscape of America was terrorized with the likes of the AIDS epidemic, financial loss, and more. 

The first artwork I chose was Martin Wong’s piece titled ‘Houston Street’ created in 1986. This is a two-part work, where one side depicts one of those typical rusty metal gates used to close up a small shop painted on canvas with no other distinctions, and the other half features a similar door, but covered in graffiti. The half displayed at the MoMA is the one with no graffiti at all. Martin Wong was a painter who lived in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which is likely why he decided to paint this rusted store shutter as he had likely passed by many walking in the streets of Manhattan. This metal gate is mostly grey with brown all over to showcase the rust of the door. Through the slight holes in the gate near the top, all that is shown is pitch-black darkness. The overwhelming amount of grey and the lack of anything behind the gate’s holes creates a sense of mystery to the viewer. It appeals to pathos as it makes the viewer feel a sense of longing. It leads to questions such as; Is the business shut down? Is the store simply closed for the day? What type of business lies behind the door? Knowing that he made this artwork during a time in NYC when gentrification started to rise, even gloomier conclusions can be reached. His purpose when creating this artwork was to showcase the possible horrors of the gentrification that was flooding NYC at the time. The minimalist excessive details combined with the maximalist use of shading and coloring on the whole door do a great job of instilling that feeling of an ominous mystery, far different from a mystery you’d see in a TV show.

The second artwork I chose was the piece “Fire” by David Wojnarowicz in 1987. Wojnarowicz was a writer, artist, and most importantly, an activist. Living in the streets of downtown New York, it is likely that he had shared many similar experiences with Martin Wong and had come to harbor similar feelings towards the overall ‘American Dream’. “Fire” is one of four paintings in a series titled “The Four Elements”, in which the artist aims to put four different narratives found in the American culture. He combines these narratives with paint and cut-out pieces of paper and magazines to articulate his experiences in America. Due to the name of the piece, he paints various figures related to fire such as a volcano, a demon-like character, actual fire, and overwhelming amounts of red colors. The painting is seemingly split into four quarters to shift your focus to. The top left includes a snake, a volcano, a sign of a gun, and a match that looks like it’s about to light a fire in the background filled with the FBI’s most wanted pictures. Other noteworthy parts of the painting include a dung beetle covered in ripped magazine portions of coupons and grocery deals, a snake in a jar of red liquid, and a very large battery. Compared to the previous painting, this one appeals to pathos by giving off anger. Red is a common color associated with anger, and more importantly, is often used as a color to garner attention. I predict that he used these colors to bring attention to his issues with the justice system, and issues with capitalism in America, or just gripes with general consumerism. While both art pieces do well in bringing out negative emotions in the viewer, the differences come from what emotion they are striving for, and the method they use. Wong uses ambiguity, mystique, and minimalism to draw on anxiety, while Wojnarowicz uses clashing imagery and maximalism to draw out anger and a call to action.

The ability to use new forms of technology has been ever-skyrocketing for the past couple of decades. Scientists and innovators continue to create new findings in tech that further our efficiency. Technology ranging from the early creations of the computer to the smartphone, and recently with the surge of AI usage, has created endless shortcuts for humans in various fields. Especially during the pandemic of the early 2020s, applications such as Zoom, Google Meets, and general tools for direct messages such as WhatsApp have created shortcuts for us to reduce the amount of face-to-face contact necessary for communication. This raises the issue of whether an over-exposure to technology created a disconnect in our ability to understand each other. Two articles will be analyzed and broken down to understand the various arguments behind this issue. The articles are “The Pros And Cons Of Technology And Relationships” created by the online therapy service ‘Regain’, covers a concise list of how there are more pros of technology and its effect on our mental health and relationships. The other piece being covered is the research paper “Is Technology Enhancing or Hindering Interpersonal Communication? A Framework and Preliminary Results to Examine the Relationship Between Technology Use and Nonverbal Decoding Skill” written by the Department of Psychology at the University of Maine which gives a thorough study of how the way users interact with technology affects the way we can decode nonverbal communication. The 2 sources have different appeals being focused on, both sources use credible studies and data to create their arguments, and both sources structure their arguments by displaying both sides.

While both sources use an analytical approach to back up their claims, they differ in the specific appeals they use. The article written by Regain uses a lot of pathos to appeal to emotions, whereas the research paper conducted by the University of Maine almost solely uses an appeal to logos using statistics and data. As Regain is a therapy service, it has the intention to give more guidance rather than a comprehensive study. One focus of the article was how technology promotes the decline of real-life interactions.  Even though the article cites many studies to back up its claims, the article writes “steering clear of uncomfortable interactions in real life may seem harmless, but in most cases, it can be problematic later down the line”. The company has an inclination to offer its analysis coupled with an emphasis on the lasting effects on mental health. This could possibly be with the intention of getting readers to consider taking up their therapy services, as the article is created by a company that offers paid services rather than a study conducted by a university. The research paper conducted by the University of Maine almost solely uses logos in its study compared to the article. The research paper cites multiple quantitative data sets accumulated by the university itself, such as how different races respond to nonverbal signals in humans. The University of Maine has no ulterior motive compared to Regain, who may hold various biases. By solely using data sets and other research conducted by other sources, the appeal to logos is there as they solely want to give their findings on how technology has affected nonverbal communication. The differences in primary appeals can be attributed to the fact that the article has different intentions from the research paper.

One similarity the article and research paper share is that both use various data sets and other research conducted to support their findings and arguments. The article by Regain keeps their findings very short and concise. It shares the findings and states the conclusion of what it means towards mental health by giving the research cited as a hyperlink in the finding being stated. When providing a pro to technology, the article states, “in many instances, technology brings people closer together and strengthens relationships”. The words ‘strengthens relationships’ are able to be clicked on and send the viewer to a study conducted by Doctor Margaret E. Morris on how technology promotes parental and romantic relationships. By keeping its analysis concise, it provides the option to the viewer to seek further deeper studies if they wish to do so. On the other side, the research paper uses a more elongated mathematical approach to its data to give the reader its analysis. For example, when showcasing its data on nonverbal decoding, it states, “individuals who self-reported more passive use scored significantly higher on both objective indices of nonverbal decoding (i.e., the WIPS test: Mr = 0.18, p < 0.001)”. This analysis of its data gives a specific conclusion on how passive use of technology gives a better understanding of nonverbal communication compared to those who use technology more deeply. This gives the reader a complete idea of one of the effects technology has on communication without having to look for more information. While both sources use this same approach, the differences can be attributed to a difference in intended audiences as the article by Regain is likely appealing to an audience who is looking for broader information.

Another similarity found between the two sources is the structure used to display each source’s findings. Both use an approach of pros and cons or both sides of the argument to give an analysis of how technology affects communication and interpersonal relationships. The research paper presents a prompt such as whether technology hinders and enhances communication skills and then provides a study for each side of the argument. This approach gives objective viewing for which the conclusion created by the research holds more weight through indisputable data sets. Similarly, the article gives headers such as “Enabling stronger relationships” and “Avoidance of real-life interactions” to give objective viewing of the pros and cons of technology and its effects. It gives the viewer objective information on how the effect of technology can vary with its effects. The reason for this approach is that both sources would like to give a non-biased analysis of the effects technology has for the viewer to understand.

1. Rashomon is a movie told by 4 different perspectives on the story of the murder of a samurai man and the rape of his wife. 4 different people give an account of what happened, including the samurai who was murdered, and the movie ends with one of the 4, the woodcutter, taking in an abandoned child.
2. A lot of the movie forces emphasis on the darkness in society, specifically the trustworthiness that transpires. One of the main symbols were the animals that appeared, such as the crows and badgers who can represent the different people who gave accounts of what happened.
3. The structure of the film inspired an important method in storytelling called the Rashomon effect. This effect is when multiple accounts give their perspective on what happened based on their own personal flashbacks among other things. This method of storytelling can allow the viewer to come up with their own assertation by discerning which parts of each POV was the truth.
4. In social media, we see the Rashomon Effect play into other people’s lives almost everyday. The rapid spread of information, often lacking verification or context, can lead to a clump of voices, who each present their version of the truth. One example of this is when on Tiktok, someone will make a vlog about how they were inconvenienced by someone whether it was a friend or a stranger, and will lead to people in the comments reacting to it by saying something along the lines of “Let’s wait to hear from the other side”. This will lead to a ‘he said she said’ type of situation where people will go back and forth online and put it out there for strangers to decide on when they serve no purpose in the actual drama. Another thing I came to realize is that social media algorithms contribute to the Rashomon effect by creating echo chambers. Individuals are exposed primarily to content aligning with their beliefs and biases. This can be something hardcore like politics or something lighthearted like a favorite series. This reinforcement of preconceptions makes it challenging to discern objective truth from subjective perspectives.

The most enjoyable part of the live showing was how animated the characters were when they were acting. The way they were speaking their lines and using body language presented themselves in a manner where they really became one with the character. Emotions such as a mother’s worries, a spirit’s yearning to become free, or someone looking for revenge, all emotions were clearly shown for easy consumption, considering that it is a Shakespearean play. Some of my discrepancies come from things that are kind of unavoidable for a play of this grandeur. For example, because of the lacking amount of cast members, the parts involving other characters on the island had to be summarized by a narrator in order for us to understand the rest of the story. This lowered the immersion for the audience, but it is completely understandable. I think with the people acting on stage, brings out much more emotional appeal and pathos as they can more effectively enhance the lines and their meaning.

S: How I felt my friendships getting worse at no fault other than my own during the pandemic, and how I realized I needed to self-reflect and change

S:

How having only online communication can be detrimental
Personal growth
Immaturity and maturity
The value of self-consciousness
Methods for improving oneself

Q: Has an over-exposure to technology created a disconnect in our ability to understand each other?

Has an over-exposure to technology hindered our ability to conversate with one another?

What is the most efficient way to become better yourself or at something?

Distraction/Attention worksheet

I would say my ability to pay attention when it comes to schoolwork is equivalent to how well I can discipline myself. Typically if I have a big assignment such as a paper, I turn my phone off and throw it away. But even then I just get up and walk around the house because I have trouble focusing. I would say my level of addiction to my phone is at about a 7.

I would say my ability to pay attention when it comes to school work is equivalent to how well I can discipline myself. Typically if I have a big assignment such as a paper, I turn my phone off and throw it away. But even then I just get up and walk around the house because I have trouble focusing. I would say my level of addiction to my phone is at about a 7.

While reading “My Distraction Sickness” please note how long it takes you to get through the piece (Google says it’s a 45 min read); also, count the number of times you get distracted (for whatever reason) and tally them at the end.

The tone of “My Distraction Sickness” was much more casual to me at least because there were many personal anecdotes that built a sense of relativism between me and the author. In “Defense of Distraction”, the article also mentions personal anecdotes, however, it seems much more formal as it references specific examples such as another author. The tone of “The Distracted Student Mind” is very formal as it takes a statistical approach to analyzing how students get distracted by citing specific data and reference points

Describe the tone of all three articles, how do they differ? (<100 words)

Please annotate “My Distraction Sickness” – highlight at least three instances for each of the following rhetoric concepts:●      Invention – mentioning the printing press, figures of how many people own phones, anecdote of meditation facility●      Style – ?●      Memory – meditation facility anecdote, mentioning his mother with BPD and family issues, mention of declining religious practice●      Pathos – mentioning his familial issues, how we become just “contacts” in a person’s phone, his meditation pracitice in relation to his boredom.●      Ethos – mentioning how he felt isolated with his phone in a room with people showing how he has experienced it, how he studied the Buddhists, philosopher Charles Taylor

What are Sam Anderson’s primary arguments in defense of distraction? (see part III of In Defense of Distraction) Do you find them convincing? Why or why not (<150 words)

One of the main parts of his argument is questioning if the time we waste is actually wasted. I’ve been having a similar way of thinking as of late as sometimes the times when I enjoy my time the most is when I’m wasting it. There are always better alternatives to what you can do with your time, but to me, some of the best moments of life are when you are simply “wasting your time” aimlessly with friends as its not the action that matters but just the company of them. How can time be wasted, if the activity you’re doing that would be considered wasteful is giving you enjoyment? A distraction can be seen as simply another aspect of your brain’s attention. However, it is important to note that there are always better ways to prioritize your attention.

After reading all three articles, what are your thoughts on this “epidemic of distraction”? (<50 words)

I think our generation specifically definitely has an attention span issue. As time goes by, there are always more avenues to direct your attention, and even if we are aware of our attention issues, not much is done to prevent us from staying focused on what is more important

Please annotate “My Distraction Sickness” – highlight at least three instances for each of the following rhetoric concepts:●      Invention – mentioning the printing press, figures of how many people own phones, anecdote of meditation facility●      Style – ?●      Memory – meditation facility anecdote, mentioning his mother with BPD and family issues, mention of declining religious practice●      Pathos – mentioning his familial issues, how we become just “contacts” in a person’s phone, his meditation pracitice concerning his boredom.●      Ethos – mentioning how he felt isolated with his phone in a room with people showing how he has experienced it, how he studied the Buddhists, philosopher Charles Taylor

Sadman Chowdhury 

Teachable Moment

In recently becoming an adult in the past year, I can confidently say that I am proud of the person I’ve become and the character I display. I’ve made it an oath to myself that I should live life in a way where I never judge anyone at first glance, and never think worse of something just because something is different. Uniqueness in people and things, along with finding something worthwhile in everything, are qualities I’ve learned to adore and live for. However, ‘learned’ is the keyword. Some people are good people at heart as soon as they gain consciousness, while others need to work their way up there through self-reflection and change. I was the latter.

At the birth of the 2020s decade, it’s a recycled tale that this new decade harbored some of the hardest times for people who lived through the pandemic. Although I can share this sentiment with the rest of society, another sentiment that was often found among people who experienced the pandemic was that it was a blessing in disguise in many factors. For me, the ‘blessing’ I received from the pandemic was a long-overdue change to the way of thinking I had at the time. Before this significant self-reflection, I took pride in my personality being very blunt. I would tell myself at the time that the way to live was always to tell the truth no matter how harsh it was. In theory, this personal philosophy isn’t all that terrible on the surface, but that’s only what I would tell myself, and not what I would stand by. In reality, I would take my personal opinions and force my thoughts as facts in my mind. This led to me acting in a manner that would sometimes harm others and portray myself in a terrible way that I look back on and denounce for the way I was acting.

Throughout the pandemic I had a friend group I would talk to every day online whether it was through our group chat or group calls. It consisted of a variety of people who knew each other in middle school and got closer at the beginning of our freshman years even though none of us went into high school together. However, the problem with limited contact during the pandemic is that emotional understanding is limited to the confines of our devices. This leaves a barrier of judgment that would be gone if you could talk to someone in person. Even though we would talk constantly with one another online as if we were narrating our lives to each other, it took me a while to understand how my closest friends’ perceptions of me were shifting. I would do things like making jokes that, in my head, I would think these jokes were funny, but in reality, they would be annoying and harmful at times to my friends. Jokes like making fun of the way my friends looked and comparing them to animals were something that, at the time, would have been funny to me but now condemn. Another thing I would do was constantly undermining and making fun of my friends whenever they would do something that was noteworthy, such as getting a good grade. My friends would call me a ‘hater’ because I was rather critical of whatever the subject of conversation was, and whenever someone wrote this in the chat, it would get laughs from everyone else. To me, I thought it was just some banter and jokes between friends. But I would eventually realize that it had become just an accurate description of the person I was at the time devoid of any irony in the name-calling that I thought was happening. 

As time passed, I would notice the shift in attitude my friends would take when talking to or about me. It would vary from the feeling of being scorned during conversations and being left out of the very few hangouts that could’ve occurred during a pandemic. I had become a friend that one wouldn’t want, and I was slowly feeling the repercussions of it. At first, I tried to justify my actions and try to victimize myself. I would always tell myself that I was just ending up as the ‘butt of the joke’. But, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. I was looking for excuses to justify the way I was acting when the actual course of action would be to look within myself for change.

It took some months leading up to the beginning of my Sophomore year to finally begin to change. It took a while to get there, but eventually, I learned that I wasn’t a victim of anyone else’s wrongdoings but myself. I made it a mission to develop myself into a more likable person. I began to loathe myself in the mornings. I became conscious of what I was saying and realized that from another perspective, I looked like a terrible person. My odd, but albeit simple, method of choice to force myself into changing for the better was a routine in which I would wake up in tell myself in the morning “I need to stop”. Call it personal affirmations, manifestation, or whatever you like, but simply telling myself I would become a better person did work. It led me to become aware of how I was acting and realizing that action was needed. After a couple of months, I began to notice changes in myself for the better. As someone who used to be sensitive to emotion in the prior, I had become much more serene. I used to suffer from minor anger issues on getting upset about insignificant things, but now I rarely find myself getting frustrated at minor things. It was as if my whole outlook on life had changed. If something didn’t directly affect or harm me, which was most things, I would never waste my energy on it. Such as getting angry because someone in front of you walks too slow, or bumps into you because they’re in a rush. Why should I be mad at them when I’m sure they have their reasons for acting like that?

The benefits of my self-reflection would quickly begin to shape. I had become significantly closer with my friends. We would hang out much more often even before all pandemic restrictions had been lifted, and the overall feelings and attitudes I would feel from them had healed and gotten uplifting. I distinctly remember a conversation with a friend about a year after I had ‘changed’. He said to me “You know that one time me and Leroy hung out during Covid and got food without anyone else? It’s kinda crazy that I remember shit-talking you because you were so annoying”. In this situation, someone would typically be mad at their friends for talking behind their back, but for me, it was different. I knew what I had done at the time was worthy of criticism and knew that it was something that we just had to put behind us. We laughed about it while going further to say how much nicer things are now. This further confirmed my resolve in that I had made a necessary change. It created a great lesson in me, not just for self-improvement but in other areas like problem-solving, everything starts with yourself and you can only get better when you look within yourself.

When it comes to Baldwin, the structure of his argument starts withdrawing from his personal experience and expanding on the differences between the black and white man. He is in front of an audience mostly consisting of white men who have likely been privileged in their lives, so he comes from a different point of view trying to show that they wouldn’t understand his experience as a black man and how it forms his stance on the argument. Additionally, he transitions into talking about the American Dream, one-half of the main points of the argument. He shifts his argument into describing how the American Dream was built upon the exploitation and subjugation of black people, thereby making it unattainable for the same black people. Baldwin concludes with a passionate call for societal change, by emphasizing the need for acknowledgment of racial injustice as without acknowledgment, true social equality won’t be achieved. Buckley on the other hand starts his argument by acknowledging racial injustice, however, he argues that it is not inherent to the American Dream itself. His argument focus was more on the economic and social side of things to suggest that progress was being made towards racial equality through more opportunities for black people. He defends the American Dream saying it is an ideal for Americans that transcends the boundaries of races. In a sense, the way he presents his argument is condescending by implying that black people are beneath white people for now and as America continues to grant them the same economic opportunities, then everyone would be equal and able to achieve the American Dream.

Baldwin: One big aspect of his argument was the use of pathos to draw sympathy and understanding from his audience. He mentions the experience of a young black boy growing up in America, and how they learn the hard way later on in life that the white man’s America is not the same as the black man’s. Using the example of the black boy not being able to look in the mirror and facing the harsh truth, he allows the audience to better understand the perspective that he is coming from.

Buckley: Buckley takes an approach focused on logos when presenting his argument by citing statistics and different facts to claim that this is the way a black person will get better quality in America. Buckley says “It is, in fact, the case for that seven-tenths of the white income of the United States is equal to the income that is made by the average negro”, by stating this he claims that economic development is what is most important for the black person. This approach allows the audience to understand his argument better of how focusing on the economy and opportunities for black people will further the strive for equality.

As of recently becoming an adult in the past year, I can confidently say that I am proud of the person I’ve become and the character I display. I’ve made it an oath to myself that I should live life in a way where I never judge anyone at first glance, and never think worse of something just because something is different. Uniqueness in people and things, along with finding something worthwhile in everything, are qualities I’ve learned to adore and live for. However, ‘learned’ is the keyword. Some people are good people at heart as soon as they gain consciousness, while others need to work their way up there through self-reflection and change. I was the latter.

At the birth of the 2020s decade, it’s a recycled tale that this new decade harbored some of the hardest times for people who lived through the pandemic. Although I can share this sentiment with the rest of society, another sentiment that was often found among people who experienced the pandemic was that it was a blessing in disguise in many factors. For me, the ‘blessing’ I received from the pandemic was a long-overdue change to the way of thinking I had at the time. Prior to my significant self-reflection, I took pride in my personality being very blunt. I would tell myself at the time that the way to live was to always tell the truth no matter how harsh it was. In theory, this personal philosophy isn’t all that terrible on the surface, but that’s only what I would tell myself, and not what I would actually stand by. In reality, I would take my personal opinions and force my thoughts as facts in my mind. This led to me acting in a manner that would sometimes harm others and portray myself in a terrible way that I look back on and denounce for the way I was acting.

Throughout the pandemic I had a friend group I would talk to every day online whether it was through our group chat or through calls. It consisted of a variety of people who knew each other in middle school and got closer at the beginning of our freshman years regardless of the fact that none of us went into high school together. However, the problem with limited contact during the pandemic is that emotional understanding is limited to the confines of our devices. This leaves a barrier of judgment that would be gone if you were able to talk to someone in person. Even though we would talk constantly with one another online as if we were narrating our lives to each other, it took me a while to understand how my closest friends’ perceptions of me were shifting. Whether it was due to a joke I made that wasn’t funny at all and rather annoying to deal with on the contrary, or me ‘hating’ on something constantly. At first, my friends would call me a ‘hater’ ironically because I was rather critical of whatever the subject of conversation, but it would eventually become just an accurate description of the person I was at the time devoid of any irony the name-calling once had. 

Eventually, I would notice the shift in attitude my friends would take when talking to or about me. It would vary from the feeling of being scorned during conversations and being left out of the very few hangouts that could’ve occurred during a pandemic. I had become a friend that one wouldn’t want, and I was slowly feeling the repercussions of it. At first, I tried to justify my actions and try to victimize myself. I would tell myself that I was just ending up as the butt of the joke always and in a sense, I was the one who had to get bullied in the group. This couldn’t have been further from the truth. I was looking for excuses to justify the way I was acting when the actual course of action would be to look within myself for change.

It took some months leading up to the beginning of my Sophomore year to finally begin to change. It took a while to get there, but eventually, I learned that I wasn’t a victim of anyone else’s wrongdoings but myself. I made it a mission to develop myself into a more likable person. My odd, but albeit simple, method of choice to force myself into changing for the better was a routine in which I would wake up in tell myself in the morning “I need to stop”. Call it personal affirmations, manifestation, or whatever you like, but simply telling myself I will become a better person really did work. After a couple of months, I began to notice changes in myself for the better. As someone who used to be really sensitive to emotion in the prior, I had become much more serene. I used to suffer from minor anger issues on getting upset about things that were insignificant, but now I rarely find myself getting frustrated at minor things. It was as if my whole outlook on life had changed. If something didn’t directly affect or harm me, which was most things, I would never waste my energy on it. Such as getting angry because someone in front of you walks too slow, or bumps into you because they’re in a rush. Why should I be mad at them when I’m sure they have their reasons for acting like that?

The benefits of my self-reflection would quickly begin to shape. I had become significantly closer with my friends. We would hang out much more often even before all pandemic restrictions had been lifted, and the overall vibes and attitudes I would feel from them had healed and gotten uplifting. I distinctly remember a conversation with a friend about a year after I had ‘changed’. He said to me “You know that one time me and Leroy hung out during Covid and got food without anyone else? It’s kinda crazy that I remember shit-talking you because you were so annoying”. He laughed while going further to say how much nicer things are now. This further confirmed my resolve in that I had made a necessary change in myself. It has created a great lesson in me, not just for self-improvement but in other areas like problem-solving, everything starts with yourself and you can only get better when you look within yourself.